Finding Piper McLean
by Lightning Bolts and Pine Trees
Summary: Piper's completely undergone a personality change and Jason's determined to bring back the old Piper even if it takes the whole course of the summer. It's fluffy, slightly dramatic at points, and contains lots of mentions at different ships. Rated T for now for some possible language and sensuality later...might change.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok this is a little idea I got last night. Tell me what you think about it and I really don't want to be spammed with Flames about the fact that I ship Jasiper and not Jeyna. So please review and let me know if this is a yay or a nay. If you like it I'll try to update again soon. So please enjoy and review. The fair that takes place is sort of based on a fair that I've been attending since I was an infant...I'm sorry I lived in rural Michigan where nothing really happened besides the local county youth fair LOL. So it takes place in the summer before their senior year and I'm not sure how long this will be.~ Bolts and Trees :D**

Jason and Leo walked around the mall. They had just gotten out of their Junior year. Summer was going to be a blast if only the last third of their trio could make it on time to anything. Piper had change since the group had been friends since seventh grade. It was as if something had snapped inside her. She started to look and act more like Jason's sister Thalia. It definitely wasn't natural and they definitely missed the old hipster Piper.

So they weren't shocked when Piper's candy apple red BMW pulled into the lot almost an hour late. It was like Piper to constantly show up at least an hour late to things. They had a BBQ at Percy's on the last day of school and she showed up almost an hour and half late. Jason studied the outfit of the day that Piper had decided upon and sighed; a pair of shiny black combat boots, short camo shorts, a black Paramore tank top, complete with a red bandanna for a scarf. Her gorgeous chocolate brown hair was cropped into a Cleopatra style bob and her purple peek-a-boo layer showed, she wore enough eyeliner that Jason swore his sister Thalia **_and_**Cleopatra would have enough eyeliner to last themselves a lifetime, her nose ring glinted in the sun, and her crimson lips curled into a smile when she saw Jason and Leo come into view.

"Sorry I'm late." Piper said as she took a seat next to them in the shade.

Leo licked his ice cream and shrugged, "Why are you late this time?"

"My car wouldn't start." Piper shrugged, "So what's the plan for today?"

"Well we're going to be meeting everyone at the fair. Hazel's showing Arion today and she needs our support." Jason said.

Piper snatched his shake and took a sip before stealing one of his fries, "Sounds like fun."

Jason noticed that she left a ring of crimson on the straw where her lips touched it. It was something that Jason hated, as much as he loved Piper, he hated it when she left the ring of crimson on his straw. Leo finally decided to break the silence and passed Piper a thing of fries, "So did you get your rabbits into the fair?"

Piper nodded, "Thor and Jane are waiting to be shown. I think I'm showing tomorrow."

Jason looked at Piper and recalled when they went to take the rabbits. The people who worked the barn, and had known Piper her whole life, barely recognized her when she walked up to the vet for vet check. She had begged Jason to help her get the rabbits settled into the barn and then they enjoyed a corndog from their favorite food stand at the fair which was cleverly enough titled the Korndog Stand.

"Are you showing both of them?" Leo asked.

Piper nodded, "I took them this year because Tony and Pepper just had a litter, Loki is being temperamental, and Natasha and Clint were molting."

Leo nodded, "So are we ready to head out and watch Hazel?"

"Don't forget Reyna." Piper added. Jason rolled his eyes, he was aware of the fact that his ex-girlfriend would be showing her horse and he didn't need to be reminded of it. He and Reyna had broke it off and it was a rather nasty break up. She had accused him of cheating with Piper and he accused her of cheating with Octavian, the school douche. So their relationship went down in flames and it wasn't surprising that Piper would bring up Reyna just to bug Jason. Reyna and Piper had never really gotten along very well so that did put quite a bit of strain on their relationship considering that Jason wasn't about to drop either of them for the other.

Piper twirled her hair around her finger and shrugged, "I'm ready if you guys are."

Leo stood from the table and the others followed suit, "Cal texted me and told me that Hazel's pretty nervous right now."

"We'll calm her down." Piper smiled and they all piled into Piper's car considering that they had Leo's mom drop them off.

* * *

The fair was already bustling with people who were showing animals and checking the things that they entered to see what the judges gave them. Leo's handmade table got a Grand Champion, as did all of his other word working projects. Thalia's pictures that she took also took most of the champion places like she usually did. This year she entered pictures of her dog Zeus, her boyfriend Nico who happened to be the in a band, and the moon. Rachel's artwork took most of the Champion board as well, Piper's baked goods were prize winners, and Jason's clay pots that he made in art class that year got B awards. He only entered them so he could get his free pass because he didn't want to pay admission for the whole week.

They checked the Horticulture Building and Piper's scarecrow received Honorable Mention, as did her tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. She only trailed behind Katie Gardner who had gotten Grand Champion. Her flowers got A awards, and Jason's pathetic entry got a B. So finally they made their way back to the horese barns where all their friends were peptalking Hazel. She was pacing nervously.

Piper walked over and gave Hazel a huge hug. She whispered something in Hazel's ear and then a huge smile replaced Hazel's nervousness. Jason couldn't help but smile because that was one of the many amazing things that Piper possessed. She could calm almost anyone's nerves when it came to it. It didn't matter how much of a twister the person's nerves were in, she could calm even the most torrential storms with a hug, a few sweet words, and a smile. It balanced out some of the new Piper's traits.

There was a call made about the English riding competition for the senior showers aged 16-19 and Hazel led Arion out to the arena. The rest of the gang filed out into the stands, Jason immediately pinpointed Reyna who's dark hair was done in an impeccably done French braid, Silena who's dark hair was tied into a tight knot on the top of her head, and Hazel's who's cinnamon toast colored hair was tied into a knot as well. Percy and Frank held up a sign with Hazel's name on it in glittery letters and they watched the competition.

Sure enough like Piper had promised Hazel, she got the Grand Champion for her division and huge trophy for it. After all of it was done Hazel changed out of her riding costume quickly and the gang decided to go see what was going on around the fair. Jason looked over at Piper and made note that even his sister, who never wore anything but black, was wearing a bright blue t-shirt, her favorite pair of black low-top Chucks with blue splatter paint, and a pair of denim shorts.

"So Piper, I've been meaning to ask you where you got your tank-top." Thalia said pulling away from Nico for a moment who had his arm around her shoulders.

"Oh, I went to a t-shirt screening top and got it custom made." Piper replied.

"Cool, you're going to have to take me some time." Thalia smiled.

Piper and Thalia set a date to go get t-shirts made and then they decided that they wanted to go check out the goats. Jason followed along behind the girls next to Nico who was walking behind Thalia. Nico looked uneasy considering that he hated goats, "You know it's almost like Thalia and Piper have gone through a role reversal these past few years."

Jason looked over at the black clad teenager and shrugged, "I think you're right. Thalia hasn't worn as much black as she used to and Piper's worn more than she's ever owned."

Nico chuckled which caused Thalia to turn around and give him a funny look. Nico shrugged her off and continued to try to avoid the goats when the rest of the crew caught up to them. Now they were joined by Grover and Juniper who apologized millions of times to Hazel for missing her show.

"I'm hungry." Piper whispered to Jason as they walked around the Commercial Buildings after Piper got her henna like she did every year. All of the girls got hennas every year and the guys just stood there and helped them pick them out.

Jason popped a cinnamon roasted almond into his mouth and shrugged, "What are you in the mood for?"

"There's that awesome fry place that makes the best fries in the universe." Piper said.

"The vinegar fry place?" Jason asked her raising an eyebrow.

Piper nodded, "Besides, the only other thing I really want is an elephant ear but I've decided that I need something more than an elephant ear for lunch."

Jason laughed, "You can go get your fries and I'm going to grab a pulled pork sandwich."

Piper nodded and took the ten dollars that Jason was handing her to go get her fries and he went to go get his BBQ. They sat at a table in the shade and ate their lunch Piper occasionally would steal a bite of Jason's sandwich. Apparently she had given up on her vegetarian kick and decided that she couldn't live without real bacon anymore so she caved and ate meat.

Leo walked over with Calypso and Percy and Annabeth in tow. Jason looked at them and decided to ask where the others were, "Where is everyone else?"

"They're waiting for their corndogs." Percy replied as he bit into his deep fried cheese on a stick. As disgusting as it sounds it was one of the most delicious things Jason had ever tasted in his life.

"Why are you eating BBQ?" Leo asked as he handed Piper her own Cheddar on a stick.

"I don't know, I guess sounded good at the time and I was right there." Jason shrugged.

Piper took a bite of her cheese and then turned to Leo, "Do you want some fries?"

"With vinegar?" Leo asked.

"What other way is there to have fries?" Piper giggled.

"With ketchup like any normal person would eat them." Jason suggested.

Annabeth laughed as Piper smacked the back of Jason's head, "Don't judge until you've tried."

Jason rolled his eyes and decided to try a fry. He was actually surprised to find out that he did in fact like the fries, "They aren't as bad as I thought they would be."

Piper gave him a satisfied smile and went back to eating her lunch. She stole Jason's pop and once again left a crimson ring around the straw which drove him insanely nuts. There was a moment when the old Piper was beginning to show and Jason loved it.

* * *

Piper dropped Jason and Leo off at their houses around eleven and walked in to find her dad sitting up waiting for her. She smiled, "Hi dad."

"Piper, I'm going to have to go away for a movie. Can you handle yourself?" he asked her.

She nodded, "I've done it before besides Mellie and Hedge will be in and out of here."

Tristan smiled at his daughter, "Piper, promise me that when I come home you'll get rid of the nose ring."

Piper rolled her eyes and kissed her father goodnight before running up the stairs, "Don't forget that I show my rabbits tomorrow!"

"I'll try to make it!" her father called up to her.

Piper removed the wig she was wearing and the eyeliner that had remained on her face after a hot day in the sun and changed into her pajamas. She went to bed only to be awoken in the morning by the shrill squawk of her alarm clock. She quickly got ready and headed out to the fair because she wasn't sure what time she had to show her rabbits at. She sat in the rabbit barn and waited for Thalia and Annabeth to get there considering that they showed rabbits too.

Jason walked in and smiled, "Hey, have you been called yet?"

Piper shook her head, "Not yet, I don't think I show until after lunch."

Jason nodded and handed her the iced coffee he had picked up from Dunkin' Donuts on the way out. Piper smiled and took the coffee gratefully considering that she was still dead tired. Today she had gone for something a little more old Piper, but not completely. She wore a pair of denim shorts, purple low-top chucks, and a white blouse over a purple tank-top. Her nose ring still glinted in the sun, her hair was normal and braided over her shoulder, she wore thick purple eyeliner, and purple lipstick. She was almost back to Piper but not quite.

Jason walked over to the cage that housed Piper's gray Mini Rex Thor and got the rabbit out. He set it on his lap and allowed the rabbit to sniff around before he was called to show. Piper reached over and stroked the rabbit's ears and then looked over at Jason, "Are Thalia and Annabeth here yet?"

"Yeah they're getting smoothies, they should be here any moment." Jason shrugged.

Piper nodded and looked at the gray rabbit and smiled. Finally Annebeth and Thalia walked in with Percy and Nico. Thalia was showing a black Netherland Dwarf named Han Solo and a cute otter colored one named Leia, Annabeth was showing a gray Mini Lop named Athena and black one named Poseidon.

"I think we're all showing after lunch so I think we're ok for a little while." Piper said as the girls took out their rabbits and brushed them.

Jason was still holding Thor and Piper had decided to take out Jane who was a broken caster Mini Rex. Thor instantly wanted to run over to Jane but Jason didn't let any of that happen. Finally after the girls showed their rabbits they decided to head out to the rides where everyone else was. Piper ended up taking Best of Breed and Best Opposite, Annabeth and Thalia did the same. They found everyone by the Ring of Fire and Thalia instantly decided to sit that one out considering that she hated heights.

Piper decided that she didn't really want to ride rides either so she and Jason opted to walk around the fair for awhile. Jason decided that he was going to bring back the old Piper, not the reckless one that was standing next to him at the moment. He missed the old Piper. He had all summer to make Piper realize that she didn't need to wear eyeliner and wigs, or ride motorcycles with complete strangers. She needed to be herself, and he was going to prove it even if it took the whole summer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, thanks for all the reviews and favorites. I'll try to update again depending on the feedback I get from this chapter. I'd like to see a few more reviews this time...so please do review. I'm surprised that I got the feedback I got...so please enjoy this. This story was a request from someone who sent me a PM. Please enjoy this, let me know how it's going so far, and I'll try my hardest to update as soon as I possibly can! :D~ Bolts and Trees **

She wasn't completely changed, she still contained certain old Piper traits but those rarely ever surfaced. The gang decided to meet up at the beach for the day, the fair had since then ended and a day at the beach was long overdue. Piper dug through her drawers for the right outfit for the beach. She opted for a pretty skimpy black bikini that revealed quite a bit of cleavage and hugged her booty. She then slipped on a black tank-top and a pair of short black shorts before pulling her chocolate hair into a sloppy bun on the top of her head. The old Piper, as gorgeous as she was, would never have chosen to buy a bikini like the one she was wearing.

She slipped into her black flip-flops and grabbed her bag that was packed for the beach and waited for Jason who had promised to pick her up. Finally Jason's beat up blue pick-up pulled into the long driveway that led to the McLeans' massive mansion. Piper ran out and climbed into the cab of the truck and grinned at Jason, "No red lipstick today?"

Piper pulled a face, "You don't wear lipstick to the beach Jason."

Jason rolled his eyes and carefully pulled out of Piper's driveway before heading to the lake where the group usually hung out. It was a pretty far drive out to the lake so Piper flipped through Jason's collection of CDs and finally decided on one of the CDs she had made for him that contained songs Jason used to believe represented he and Piper's relationship.

The intro to Drunk on You by Luke Bryan started Piper pulled a face and flipped to the next song, "Do you have any Paramore?"

Jason shook his head, "You're in the wrong car for Paramore. My sister's got plenty of Paramore if that's what you're looking for."

Piper took the CD out and looked through the others that Jason possessed. She pulled a face when she realized that all of Jason's CDs contained country artists and Top 40 pop artists. She wasn't into them as much. Finally she found a CD that had a few Fun. songs on it and decided to listen to that. She put the CD in and cranked up the volume as they drove down the dirt country roads to the lake where all their friends were waiting.

The intro to Walking the Dog started and Piper sang along to every word. Jason couldn't help but smiling and singing along with her. He remembered when Fun. was Piper's favorite band now she had abandoned them for other bands that to Jason sounded quite mainstream. They finally got to the lake twenty minutes later and everyone was there. Percy and Frank were already in the water. Piper removed the clothes to reveal her skimpy bikini that made all the boys stop and stare. Annabeth, Hazel, Calypso, Rachel, and Thalia were all wearing tankinis, and Juniper was wearing a one-piece. Of course Piper had to be the one to bare it all.

"Where did she get that?" Leo asked raising his eyebrows to his hairline.

Jason shrugged, "Not quite sure."

"I thought Piper hated it when girls wore skimpy bathing suits." Leo muttered before jumping into the lake.

Jason followed suit and jumped into the cool lake greeting the graciously cool water gratefully considering that it was bithcingly hot that day. He swam over to Piper who was sitting on a rock and climbed up beside her, "Where did you get that?"

"What?" she asked.

"The suit." Jason said gesturing to what she was wearing.

"Oh, I found it at Charlotte Reuss." Piper shrugged.

Jason nodded, "Figured."

Piper glared at him and then rolled her eyes, "What's your deal lately?"

"Nothing, it's just I didn't think you owned a bathing suit like that." Jason shrugged and ran a hand through his blonde hair.

Piper didn't say anything for a moment, "What do you think about me getting a tattoo?"

Jason nearly choked on the air that he was breathing, "Piper you can get diseases from tattoos."

"I just want one on my shoulder, it's not going to be huge or anything." Piper rolled her eyes.

"Why do you want to ruin your body with a tattoo? You know that they sag as you get older and they're hard to cover up." Jason said hoping to deter her from getting the tattoo.

"I think I still want one no matter what you say Jason." Piper rolled her eyes.

"Well what were you thinking about getting?" Jason asked curiously wanting to know what she wanted to permanently ink onto her body.

"I was thinking about getting a quote from my favorite book." Piper shrugged.

"Which would be?" Jason asked her.

"It would be from my favorite children's book which happens to be _Where the Wild Things Are_ and I was thinking about getting one of the monsters from the book." Piper said.

"Why a monster?" Jason asked, "I thought your favorite children's book was _The_ Lorax."

Piper shook her head, "No you're wrong, that's Annabeth's favorite children's book."

Jason nodded and then looked at Piper, "Why don't you get something from Alice in Wonderland?"

Piper shook her head, "I was also thinking something from my favorite Disney movie."

"Lilo and Stitch right?" Jason asked.

Piper nodded, "I think I might go with that."

"So when do you plan on getting this tattoo?" Jason asked her curiously.

Piper shrugged, "This Saturday. I was hoping that you'd come with me."

Jason sighed, "Why do you need a tattoo Piper?"

"Because I want one." she argued.

"You don't need one." Jason argued his point. Piper rolled her eyes but didn't budge with the fact that she wanted a tattoo.

"Hey, my mom is having this huge ball thing and I need a date." Jason said.

Piper looked over at him, "When is it?"

"It's at the end of July, would you like to be my date?" Jason asked.

Piper looked at him, "What's the catch?"

"You have to find yourself." Jason said. "I'll even help you along the way."

Piper gave him a confused look, "What do you mean by find myself?"

"You've lost yourself Piper, you need to find yourself." Jason replied gesturing to what she was wearing.

"I haven't lost myself." Piper defended herself.

"Yes you have. The Piper we all know, even you know, wouldn't wear anything like that." Jason said, "This is something you used to rip on Drew for wearing."

Piper was quiet for a moment and then she looked over at the handsome blonde teenager recounting why she had become this way. Honestly it had been a cry for attention. There had been a period of time, a very long period of time, where Jason completely dropped her for Reyna. She did this as a cry for attention but she didn't want to admit that because she had actually become attached to this new Piper.

"Why do I have to change for this?" Piper asked.

"Because you're not the same Piper. We all miss you." Jason replied, "This new Piper is like your evil twin came in and set up camp and decided not to leave."

She rolled her eyes, "Maybe you can change me back to the Piper you miss but I highly doubt it."

Jason smirked, "Challenge accepted, besides my mother isn't going to allow someone in her little charity ball to have tattoos and nose rings."

Piper punched his bicep and flinched slightly because it sort of hurt, "Fine, you're so on Jason."

"This does mean no tattoo in a visible place." Jason smirked.

"Thalia has one!" Piper complained.

"Well Thalia's Thalia and you're Piper. You don't need one." Jason rolled his eyes before jumping back into the water and swimming off towards Leo and Percy who were playing with a football.

Piper sighed and realized that she wasn't getting out of this. She knew where Jason was headed and she was going to be stubborn about it the whole way. Just because he now recently realized what happened to Piper and suddenly cared she wasn't going to change that easily, he would have to work towards it too. This was about more than her, it was about him as well.

* * *

The group sat around a bonfire that Leo and Frank built together without arguing for the first time in their lives. Frank and Leo were always arguing about something and honestly sometimes it was really funny because Leo was sarcastic and Frank was easily flustered.

Leo pulled a pack of hot dogs out of the cooler, "Anyone want a dog?"

"Pass me a couple." Percy nodded.

The girls had gone for a walk and Leo looked over at Jason, "So did you get to ask Piper where she got it?"

"Oh she told me she got it at some store she never once mentioned in her life." Jason replied.

Leo laughed, "Is Piper going mainstream on us?"

Jason shrugged, "Not quite sure. However I think I've made a break through."

Leo raised his eyebrows to his hairline, "Did you now?"

"I asked her to my mother's charity ball and I told her that she'd have to go back to the old Piper before she could consider going." Jason replied.

"You do realize that she's going to be stubborn about it right?" Leo asked him as he topped his perfectly cooked dog with everything he'd need for the perfect, as Leo like to call it, Latino Dog.

The girls returned before Jason could reply and Piper sat next to him. She was wearing a thin hoodie now because the air had decided to chill to a bipolar factor and it looked like she had put on a longer pair of pants.

"You changed?" he asked as she grabbed a marshmallow.

She nodded, "I did because I was cold."

Around ten everyone decided that they should probably head home. Jason waited for Thalia to say goodnight to Nico which took forever so he and Piper sat in his truck. She looked at Jason and smiled, "How long does it take them to say goodbye, they know they'll see each other tomorrow?"

Jason shrugged, "It takes them awhile, I guess it's because they're in love."

Piper laughed, "Love makes you do crazy things."

He looked at her and smiled, "In my sister's case that means taking an extra long time to say goodnight to your boyfriend."

Finally Nico and Thalia came into view and Nico helped her into the back of the truck considering that Piper was already sitting in the front. Thalia knocked on the window to let Jason know it was safe to take off and Jason made the long drive out to Piper's house.

Jason put the car in park in Piper's driveway and smiled, "Well I'll see you tomorrow."

Piper nodded, "Maybe, it depends on how late I sleep in."

Jason rolled his eyes, "You're a morning person Piper."

"I used to be." she smirked and hopped out of the car.

"You still are not matter how hard you try to fight it." Jason muttered as she ran up to the door and walked into the empty house.

Thalia climbed into the cab and looked at her brother, "What's up with Piper lately, I swear the girl wears more eyeliner than Cleopatra and I combined?"

Jason shook his head, "I'm not sure but that's going to be changing this summer."

Thalia laughed and then looked out the window, "You're going to have your work cut out for you."

"I know, I just don't need her running off on another random college kid's motorcycle again." Jason muttered.

"Good luck, Jason are you sure you're not biting off too much than you can chew?" Thalia asked curiously.

Jason shrugged, "I'm not quite sure."

Jason parked his truck next to Thalia's Mustang and they walked into their house. Their mother was most likely sleeping already so they made sure that they were extra quiet as they walked up to their rooms. Jason checked his phone for any texts and then he walked over to his bed before stripping down to his boxers. He climbed into his bed and fell asleep quickly and ended up sleeping until 1 P.M. the next day. He was out pretty late considering that Piper requested they drove around for awhile so Jason and Thalia didn't end up getting home until almost midnight.

* * *

Piper woke up the next morning with a splitting headache and realized that her father was due to leave within the hour. He'd fly back out to his California home and leave Piper in New York with his assistant Mellie and bodyguard Hedge for the summer. She didn't get enough sleep and yet there was no way she was going to get any sleep.

There was a knock on her door and Mellie walked in with a silver tray containing Piper's breakfast, "Hey Piper, I decided to make you breakfast in bed."

Piper smiled and the petite woman, "Thanks Mellie, but you really didn't have to do that."

She laughed, "Oh it was no problem Piper, I love cooking anyway, your father is waiting for you downstairs."

"Tell him I'll be down there when I finish my breakfast." Piper smiled. She loved her dad but he was never around and when he was around it seemed like he didn't have any time for her. So Piper relied on the attention that she got from doing stupid reckless things. Yeah it worked for the two guys she wanted the most attention from. When she did stupid things she realized that she got the attention she was looking for.

Mellie nodded and kissed Piper's forehead before setting the tray on her lap. Piper picked at her breakfast and finally decided that she should probably go say goodbye to her father before he had to leave without saying goodbye to her.

Her father was walking around the living room that was never used and smiled when he saw Piper, "There you are."

Piper smiled and hugged her father, "Have fun with your movie."

He laughed, "I'll Skype you."

Piper nodded, "Text me before you want to Skype."

He laughed, "I will Pipes."

She kissed his cheek and hugged once more before his chauffeur came in and took his bags before informing him that it was time to go. Tristan smiled at Piper and kissed the top of her head, "Please stay out of trouble while I'm gone."

Piper nodded and knew that her next stunt would most likely end up in the tabloids. She waved at her father as he pulled out of the driveway. It was always a little bittersweet to see her father leave and she knew that she'd most likely do something stupid later when her emotions caught up to her.

* * *

Piper walked around the mansion where a huge house party was in full swing. Rachel's parents were gone again to their summer home in St. Thomas so Rachel threw her annual beginning of the summer house party. It was wild and Piper was already starting to feel buzzed after two and a half beers. All of her friends were there and enjoying themselves, it was evident that Percy was tipsy after having two beers, Annabeth was still drinking her Sprite like the good girl she was, Thalia had a Mike's Hard, Nico was sipping on his first beer, Frank and Hazel were drinking Cokes, and Leo was on his second beer, Rachel was tipsier than Piper was after having three, and Jason was drinking a Mountain Dew.

Piper decided that she needed some air and walked out onto the balcony and Jason followed because he wasn't sure she could walk on their own. He most definitely didn't trust Piper out on the balcony alone when she could barely stand up right. She got a little too close to the railing for Jason's liking so he decided that it was time for Piper to go home and sleep off the alcohol.

He slung Piper over his shoulder despite all of her protests to put him down and stop being boring, "Piper you need to go home before you get seriously hurt."

Piper hit his back repeatedly but it wasn't very hard and didn't do much since she was out of her mind intoxicated. On his way out Jason made sure that Thalia and Leo were set with designated drivers and he carried Piper out to his truck where he strapped her into the passenger's seat and put the child lock on so she couldn't get out.

"Why do you always have to ruin the fun?" Piper slurred glaring at him.

Jason laughed and shook his head before pulling out his phone and informing Mellie and Hedge that he'd be having Piper spend the night at his house. They didn't need to see Piper like this, he knew it would break their hearts because they care about Piper a lot and it would sort of be a slap in the face for them to see Piper so drunk that she couldn't even talk properly.

Jason looked over at Piper who was pouting with her arms crossed over her chest and Jason had to admit that she looked quite childish, "You look ridiculous Piper."

She stuck her tongue out at him, "Shut up Jason."

The ride was quiet and when they finally pulled into Jason's driveway he had to pull her out of the cab of the truck and carry her inside because at this point she was pretty loopy.

"Jason put me down and let me walk." Piper said punching his back again.

"Fine, I'll let you try to walk on your own." Jason said putting Piper onto the ground. She stumbled around and Jason caught her before she hit the ground.

Piper grabbed onto Jason's shirt and started giggling, "Why did you bring me here?"

"Because Mellie and Hedge don't need to deal with this." Jason mumbled.

"Are you trying to take advantage of a drunk girl Jason Grace?" she giggled. Jason could smell the alcohol on her breath as she buried her face into the crook of her neck.

"Piper that's not even funny." Jason growled as he walked up the stairs to his room. His mother wasn't home luckily because if she could see Piper at the moment she'd probably start going off on Jason for bringing home a drunk girl.

Jason opened his door rather awkwardly and carried a giggling Piper in. He sat her on the bed and then searched for something she could sleep in. He finally found an old baseball t-shirt of his and handed it to her, "Here try this on."

Piper wiggled herself out of the tight black mini dress that she was wearing and slipped Jason's t-shirt over her head. Jason couldn't help but stare slightly as she changed because despite how angry he was with her at the moment she was gorgeous and he was a guy so naturally he'd stare.

Piper fell onto the bed pulling Jason with her. Jason fell on top of her and sighed. She wrapped her hands around the back of his neck, "You know I've always liked your eyes."

Jason rolled off of her and stared at the ceiling, "Piper you're drunk, go to sleep."

Piper rolled onto him and giggled, "You're cute, you know that right."

Jason sighed, "Piper you're drunk please just go to sleep."

Piper buried her face into Jason's neck, "Fine."

He laid there with Piper practically on top of him and listened to her breathing even out and she finally fell asleep. He ran his fingers through her hair and realized that she was wearing a wig. He took it off and found her natural hair that tumbled down to her shoulders. Her nose ring glinted in the moonlight and Jason grimaced, he hated that stupid nose ring. It had proved to be the start of all of his Piper related problems.

Jason woke up the next morning to the sound of violent vomiting and he found Piper in the bathroom puking up all that she drank the previous night. She looked at the blonde teenager who was still wearing the jeans and t-shirt he wore from the previous night, "I'll go get you something to eat, it'll help."

Piper nodded and realized that as much as she'd hate to believe it Jason really did care about her. She finished her spell of illness and walked into Jason's room just as he was bringing up a plate of scrambled eggs, toast, and orange juice. He set the tray up and forced her to eat a little bit before she could finally declare that she was done.

"You need to stop this Piper." Jason whispered.

"Stop what?" she muttered resting her head to get rid of the splitting headache she had.

Jason held out a glass of water and two Tylenols, "Whatever you're doing Piper, it's getting out of hand."

Piper didn't reply she fell asleep. Jason decided that the best way for her to get over this hangover was to sleep it off. He covered her with a thin blanket and then went downstairs to do some of the chores his mom had left for him before she ran off to Europe for two weeks. He realized that Piper was worse than he had thought. He needed to help her, he needed to get her to find herself again, he needed her to stop being so reckless. However he started to realize that she needed him too. She needed him to be there, she needed him to listen to her, she needed him to believe in her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, here's the next chapter. It's getting cuter and cuter as I go on. So thanks for the reviews that I did get...however I would still appreciate a few more so please review! I'll try to update again soon because I'm free to do so all weekend! I'm also going to try to kick out a Thaluke fic...so if your interested keep your eyes peeled! So please enjoy and review (they help me know where I stand with the plot)! :D ~ Bolts and Trees **

Piper woke up in Jason's room and she took the time to look around before she went to go find Jason wherever he was in the overly large mansion he inhabited. His walls were lined with trophies from football, baseball, basketball, and track and field. He had pictures on a bulletin board, most of them were of them and Leo, there were a few that he hadn't taken down of him and Reyna. Piper decided she should look away before she decided to rip them down.

One picture caught Piper's attention and she couldn't help but look at it. It was all of them in freshman year, the year Jason had started to date Reyna, Thalia's ex-boyfriend was even in the picture. She giggled, Percy and Annabeth were still the same, except Percy was a little shorter than he was, Leo's hair was out of control, Calypso wasn't there, Thalia was happily standing next to Luke but her arm was around Nico who's eyes you couldn't even see due to his shaggy hair. Jason was standing between Leo and her and had his arm around their shoulder. They looked so happy. Piper looked at herself and almost died, she looked so different within the course of two years that she almost didn't believe that she was looking at herself in the picture.

She wore a pair of cut-off denim shorts, a thin white blouse over a bright yellow tank-top, she wore no makeup, and she didn't have a nose ring, Her hair was done in a French braid over her shoulder and Piper barely recognized herself. She was shocked to see how much she had changed. She looked at herself in the mirror. She wore Jason's t-shirt which came down to her thighs, her hair tumbled down to her shoulders and curled softly at the ends, her nose ring stared her in the face, she could see where her makeup was smudged off and where it was still on, her eyeliner was smudged, and she had to admit she hated how she looked.

The door opened and Jason walked in with a fresh basket of laundry, "You're awake."

Piper nodded, "Where's my dress, I should probably head home before Mellie and Hedge send out the NYPD searching for me?"

"Don't worry about it." Jason said ,"They stopped over and brought you some things."

He pulled a bag off of the top of the laundry basket and tossed it to her. Piper looked through the old Aztec print backpack that she had paid a ridiculous amount of money for and never really used it again. She looked through it and found two outfits; a little white eyelet lace sundress and a pair of sandals, and a pair of denim shorts, a light blue v-neck, and a pair of flip-flops. She also found her shampoo and hair things. She sighed and decided to go take a shower.

"Jason, can you get me Thalia's hairdryer?" Piper called after she got out of the shower.

"No, just braid your hair." Jason rolled his eyes as he walked into the bathroom. Piper sighed and towel dried her hair before changing into the shorts and shirt and she quickly braided her hair. Well she attempted to braid her hair but somehow she had forgotten how to braid.

"Jason I can't remember how to braid my hair." Piper muttered.

Jason chuckled and grabbed a chair, "Sit down and I'll braid your hair."

Piper looked at him, "Do you know how to braid?"

Jason nodded, "Reyna used to make me braid her hair when her arm was broken. So I think I can braid considering that I had to braid for like three months."

Piper sat down in front of the mirror and watched as Jason perfectly braided her hair. She had to add that to her list of things that Jason could surprisingly do. Finally Jason was finished braiding her hair and Piper made note of what she had been doing wrong.

"Are you hungry, it's after three in the afternoon and you haven't eaten since breakfast?" Jason asked her.

She nodded, "I think I am."

"Thalia won't be home tonight, she's staying over at Annabeth's. She made some chili before she left though." Jason said.

Piper smiled, "Sounds great."

"I was thinking about eating it out on the deck." Jason said.

She followed him to the kitchen where she could smell Thalia's infamous chili simmering away in a blue crock-pot on the counter. Jason started to get out the sour cream and cheddar and a sleeve of crackers because Thalia refused to make cornbread because she claimed that it ruined the chili. Piper grabbed two bowls out of the cabinet and managed to find the spoons considering that she had forgotten where they were kept.

Jason dished out the chili and allowed Piper to fix hers the way she liked it before they headed out to the deck. Piper asked Jason for a bottle of hot sauce because she needed more of a kick to her chili. Jason brought out the hot sauce that Thalia usually used when she needed to make things spicier.

"So I was thinking that we could go out tomorrow, just you and me." Jason said.

"To where?" Piper asked.

"The mall, I need to go shopping and I'm sure you'd like to." Jason smiled.

Piper took a bite of her chili and stuck her tongue out at him, "I guess that sounds like fun."

Jason smiled, "You're going have to shop on my terms though."

Piper rolled her eyes, "Which would be?"

"No slut clothes." Jason said, "I don't care if you want to buy a band t-shirt, or some black but you're going to buy a new bathing suit."

"I still have several others." Piper smirked.

"No, I've told Mellie and Hedge to look through and find things that don't fit." Jason smirked.

Piper's jaw dropped, "You're kidding me?!"

Jason shook his head, "Like I said, you're going back to the old Piper."

Piper couldn't help but smile at him, "You're not giving up are you?"

"Nope, when I start something I finish it." he smiled at her.

* * *

Jason pulled into the mall parking lot the next morning. He had informed Piper that he was going to pay for her all new wardrobe. So they started off in one of Piper's favorite stores where she actually did end up finding things that she liked. By the end of the day both she and Jason were carrying bags and boxes. It was sort of nice but she still couldn't let Jason pay for all of this without doing something in return.

"I'm going to take you out to dinner." Piper said.

"You don't have to." Jason shook his head.

"I do, you didn't need to buy all of this for me." Piper shook her head gesturing to all of the bags in the backseat of the truck. Jason didn't understand why his sister had insisted on sitting in the back of the truck. He shrugged it off before heading to another store.

"Where are we going for dinner?" Jason asked her so he knew where to go.

"What's your favorite place?" Piper asked him.

"I don't know we could go for some pizza." Jason suggested. He hated the fact that Piper insisted on paying for dinner. Usually when a girl paid for dinner when a guy was there the guy looked cheap. So finally after tons of insisting on Piper's part they finally somehow ended up at the most expensive Italian place Piper could find because she was determined to pay back part of what Jason had paid for her clothes.

* * *

Piper got back to her place to find a lot of her clothes gone and in the donation box. She started to put away all the new things Jason had bought her and she pulled out one of the shirts she had gotten at Hot Topic and smiled, it was a Fun. t-shirt. She laughed and hung it on a hanger after removing the tags.

Mellie walked in, "Hey Piper, sweetie, did you go shopping?"

Piper turned and nodded, "Umm Jason took me."

"Wow, that's a lot of clothes." Mellie said raising her eyebrows looking at the at least three dozen bags, the two dozen shoe boxes, and whatever else Jason had gotten Piper.

"I know, Jason said I needed a wardrobe overhaul." Piper said as she hung a yellow dress on a hanger.

Mellie nodded, "When did you get your nose pierced?"

"Oh, for my birthday two years ago." Piper said.

Mellie nodded, "Gleeson doesn't like it."

Piper laughed considering that Hedge was super protective of her. He had been her gym coach and well he sort of looked out for Piper, always making sure that the popular girls who picked on her would get what they had coming to them, be it push ups or a round of dodge ball.

"I know he doesn't." Piper laughed.

"We got you something for your birthday since we weren't around to give them to you." Mellie smiled.

Piper smiled, "You guys didn't have to do that."

"Oh but we saw it and thought of you." Mellie said handing Piper a outfit box with a purple ribbon wrapped around the slightly darker purple box. Piper undid the ribbon and smiled when she pulled out the gorgeous high-low dress that she had been admiring for months. It was made out of flowy lace and Piper just loved it.

She hugged Mellie tightly, "Thank you, this is exactly what I wanted."

Mellie smiled, "We knew you'd like it. Gleeson saw the purple and said that we had to get it for you."

Piper laughed, "Thank you Mellie."

She smiled, "It was more tasteful than some of the dresses that I found in your closet."

Piper blushed slightly out of embarrassment, "Do you mind if I go through the box and see what I can alter?"

Mellie smiled, "That's my sweet Piper."

So Piper ended up going through the box and decided a couple dresses were salvageable, she managed to keep a few pairs of shorts that she decided she could alter, some boots, and a couple shirts and jackets. She let the bathing suits stay there and some of the other articles that she couldn't believe she wore in her life.

"Hey Mellie would you mind if I disappeared to the fabric store for awhile?" Piper asked.

Mellie shook her head, "Of course not dear."

"Cool I'll be back in a little bit." Piper smiled before grabbing her keys and her wallet. The fabric store was a nice short drive up the road. She could have walked but she didn't know exactly how much she was getting.

She walked around the fabric store and found tons of pretty eyelet laces, flowy material that would look amazing with the black because they were in bright colors, some other fabrics that would look great with a few of the dresses, some lace for inlays for her shorts, buttons. She went a little crazy, but Jason said he wanted the old Piper back, so she was going to give him that. She paid for what she got and walked out to her car where she ran into Thalia.

"Hey McLean, what you got there?" Thalia asked jokingly.

"Just some fabric and stuff for some alterations on some clothes." Piper shrugged.

Thalia laughed, "Sounds like you're going to be busy.

"So what are you doing out here?" she asked Thalia.

"Oh, I just need some scrapbook things. I'm making one for Nico and I's two year." She smiled.

Piper smiled completely forgetting that Thalia and Nico had been together that long. They were cute together and Piper sort of envied her. She found a guy and they just clicked. Piper had terrible luck with guys.

"Right, when is that again?" Piper asked curiously.

"Fourth of July, but it takes a while to scrapbook so I thought I might as well get started." Thalia shrugged.

Piper nodded, "Sounds like you're going to be busy."

Thalia nodded, "I'm also making one for Annabeth and Hazel so I'm definitely going to be busy. However Nico told me he'd help me with Annabeth and Hazel's."

"If you need any help you can always call me." Piper smiled.

"I'll keep that in mind. I'm going to let you go so I can get home before this storm rolls in." Thalia smiled. Piper nodded and bid Thalia goodbye before they went their separate ways.

* * *

Jason was waiting for Piper at her house when she got home. Jason helped her carry all of her altercation supplies into the house and asked her if she needed any help.

"If could help me get out the sewing machine that would be amazing." Piper said as she led him to her own little crafting room. Everything was organized and perfect. She looked through the fabric that she already possessed and pulled out whatever she could think of using to make her altercations look awesome.

Once they were set up Jason looked at Piper as she pulled out a black mini dress, "So what are you going to do with that?"

Piper fitted it over one of the mannequins in the room and pulled out a pair of scissors. She cut off the skirt leaving only the top, "You'll see."

She laid the top out onto some of the counter space and pulled out a thing of bleach and a spray bottle. Jason watched her as she spritzed the top with some bleach and scrunched it before sticking it in the washer and dryer.

As they waited she started on the bottom. She reused the bottom of the mini dress and layered some bright orange lace over it. Jason had to admit that he was impressed with the finished product because he never thought that Piper's once slutty black mini dress could look that amazing. Once she was satisfied with the finished product she started on the next one.

She took a pair of cut-off black shorts and grabbed a thing of sky blue lace. She turned them inside out and laid some lace over a couple of the holes making sure to glue it into to place and then sew it in with thread that stood out against the lace. She turned another slutty mini dress into a work of art that included adding sleeves to the dress. Jason was mesmerized by watching her. She was brilliant with some fabric and accessories.

Jason looked at the shrinking pile of clothes and watched as she altered a jacket. She added some studs, changed part of it completely. Jason was impressed. Some of these clothes he never would had thought could look that amazing. Finally Piper said that she was finished. She looked over at all of her finished products and smiled.

"They look amazing." Jason smiled.

Piper nodded, "They do."

"You have a knack for this kind of thing." Jason said.

"Thanks, I just kind of envision something and do my best to make that vision come to life." Piper shrugged and then her stomach growled, "I'm hungry, lets go get something to eat."

The kitchen smelled of Mellie's amazing homemade macaroni and cheese and Piper's stomach growled again. Mellie smiled, "Did you get all of your projects finished?"

Piper nodded, "They're still in the room if you want to go see them."

"I'll be sure to check them out when I'm over that way." Mellie smiled and handed them their plates complete with macaroni, fresh green beans that Piper grew herself, and her favorite fruit salad. Jason and Piper ate at the breakfast bar and then Hedge walked in and he and Mellie ate in the dining room.

"Mellie's mac and cheese is the best." Jason said as he went back for another helping.

Piper laughed, "Yeah, she's pretty good in the kitchen."

"You know what I haven't had in forever?" Jason grinned as he took his seat next to Piper handing her her plate.

Piper smiled before taking a bite of her mac and cheese, "What would that be?"

"I haven't had your infamous pudding filled cupcakes lately." Jason smiled.

"Well then maybe we should make some tomorrow." Piper smirked, "We can even invite Leo over and have a fiesta."

"I think he would like that. However I don't think he's going to appreciate the apron." Jason laughed.

"We all have to wear one. Mellie's rule." Piper shrugged, "Besides I think they're fun considering that she's got one for each of my friends."

"Leo's is hilarious." Jason nodded thinking about the Bob the Builder on Mellie had found for him. Jason's was superman and it even had a cape. Piper's was a simple purple and white polk-a-dotted one, the girls had their favorite colors with white polk-a-dots. It was something they did.

"I think he'll get over it." Piper shrugged and took another bite of her food.

"So tomorrow we'll make cupcakes and have a fiesta." Jason smiled.

Piper nodded, "We'll let Leo know tomorrow."

"Sounds like a good plan." Jason smiled. After dinner he and Piper went up to Piper's room to watch a movie.

"I think my room needs a make over." She said after the movie was over and they were just laying on her bed staring at the ceiling.

"We can do that too this summer." Jason shrugged, "There's plenty of time left."

Jason liked the fact that she was slowly but surely coming to be the Piper she had used to be. Piper looked over at him, "I'm thinking about painting the walls a couple different colors, adding some paint splatters or maybe some Aztec designs..."

"Well we'll worry about that after tomorrow because you're going to have to move all of your things out of your room." Jason chuckled.

"Are you going to help me?" Piper asked.

Jason nodded, "If you want my help...however I think Leo is the better person to ask."

"We'll call him too." Piper smiled.

"Sounds like a plan." Jason smiled.

"He can even bring Calypso. I'm sure she'll love to do something like that." Piper smiled.

"She would have loved to do what we did today." Jason chuckled.

"I'm going to have to keep that in mind." Piper said before it got quiet for a moment. She looked at the French doors that led to her balcony and looked out. The rain still hadn't stopped and she was bored.

"Jason do you want to go play in the rain?" she asked sitting up suddenly and startling the blonde.

Jason smiled, "Sure."

Piper jumped up and pulled him along behind her. Jason made note that she was wearing a pretty yellow dress. They ran outside into the rain and Piper twirled around. Jason watched her with a Cheshire Cat grin on his face. Finally she grabbed his hand and smiled, "Dance with me."

"Without music?" Jason asked.

"We can make our own." she smirked.

Jason laughed and twirled Piper around the yard. She hummed a song softly and rested her head on his shoulder. Jason could smell her floral-y shampoo and her Wonderstruck perfume.

"See I told you we could dance without music." Piper whispered.

Jason chuckled softly, "I guess you were right."

They were quiet for a moment before Piper looked up at him. He took in her face; her chocolate locks were plastered to her face in dark tendrils, her eyes were bright and color changing like normal which meant she wasn't wearing the contacts that she had taken to wearing, she looked like Piper, his Piper. The only thing that ruined his image of his perfect Piper was that stupid nose ring that stubbornly remained where it had been for the past two years as if to scream out at Jason that it wasn't going to go away.

Piper looked up at Jason and smiled slightly. His cropped blonde hair was lying across his forehead, his sky blue eyes sparkled, his scar stood out against his amazingly tanned skin. She rested her head back onto his shoulder and took in the scent of his cologne that smelt exactly like her father's. She didn't know exactly what kind it was but she loved the smell of it.

Jason pressed a kiss to the top of Piper's head without realizing what was going on. Piper froze a little but shook it off and continued to twirl around in the rain with Jason. His hand rested comfortably on the small of her back and the other grasped her hand. He was humming one of her favorite songs by the Beatles; Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds. Jason always told her that it had reminded him of her. She used to joke with him and ask if she really had the same effect as LSD.

Then Jason started to sing. He sang Collide by Howie Day. As cliche as it sounded, Piper loved that song. It was actually romantic as they twirled around in the rain as the sky darkened into the night. Jason finished the song and then watched Piper run around in the ran for another ten minutes before Mellie called them in before they got sick.

* * *

The next day Jason, Leo, and Calypso walked up the stone walkway leading to Piper's house and knocked on the door. Mellie answered, "Piper's in the kitchen waiting for you."

They walked into the kitchen where Piper tossed their aprons at them. Jason looked at Piper, "Ok, what do you want us to do boss?"

"Well I've already got a batch of cupcakes baking so Jason if you'd help Leo with whatever he needs you to do for tacos or whatever Leo wants to make that'd be great. Calypso you can work with me." Piper smiled.

The girls set off to ice and fill the cupcakes with pudding and make a batch of Calypso's famous lemonade. Leo looked over at Piper who wore something the old Piper would wear, "There isn't even any makeup. You're making progress Grace."

Jason smiled, "I know, it's taken awhile but I think we've finally broken through."

"She's slowly but surely getting there." Leo smiled.

"I know. It's been easier than I thought it would be." Jason said as he grated the cheese Leo had brought with him in his bag of different taco ingredients. Leo sauteed peppers, onions, and steak in a pan while he warmed tortillas.

"I'm glad she called." Leo said, "Calypso really likes to spend time with her."

Jason looked over at Calypso and Piper who were laughing and having a good time as they did their cupcakes. Piper was guiding her and teaching her how to make them. Jason could already see the budding friendship between the two.

"Hey Piper was wondering if you'd like to help her remake her room." Jason said.

Leo shrugged, "Sounds like a fun. Just let me know and I'll have all the supplies."

"She'll love that, she said Calypso could help." Jason said.

"Calypso will appreciate that." Leo smiled.

Soon enough Leo's masterpiece was finished and the girls had finished their cupcakes and setting the table on the deck. Mellie and Hedge were out for dinner so they had the house to themselves. Jason took the seat next to Piper and enjoyed dinner. They made plans to get the whole gang together for pizza and a gigantic sleepover. Jason noticed that slowly but surely Piper was definitely falling back into the old Piper that she had used to be. It was definitely beginning to look like Jason would have his date because he was definitely too chicken to admit that he wanted to date Piper. He figured that he could bring it up at the ball and see where it went from there.

No matter how much he tried not to think about it, he couldn't stop picturing dancing with her in the rain. Just holding her close, so close that he could hear her heart beat. He also couldn't stop thinking about how much he had wanted to kiss her. He tried to shake off the thought but it would constantly creep back up and find him. He also thought about the night he had brought her home drunk how she kept saying that he was cute. He couldn't get that out of his mind either.

Jason then accepted the fact that Piper McLean had invaded his every thought and she most likely wasn't going to leave them either. She was Jason's favorite thought. He loved how innocent Piper looked while she twirled around in the rain wearing a yellow sundress. How she could calm anyone's nerves and return a smile to their faces. He loved how she could make him go completely insane without even lifting a finger. Jason accepted the fact that he was indeed in love with Piper McLean and he was going to do anything that would make her realize it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok, sorry it's been so long since I've updated. So thanks for all the feedback on the previous chapters. I'm going to try to update regularly throughout the week and that's a promise. Please do review and let me know if you guys liked it! So enjoy! :D~ Bolts and Trees**

Piper and Jason had managed to move all of Piper's furniture out of her room and they were taping off things that needed to be taped off. Jason promised that he would stand on the ladder for her because she was terrified of heights and Leo said that he would be bringing the paint because he had a discount at the hardware store because he was such a frequent customer.

"What color did you decide on?" Jason asked.

"Ok, the walls are going to be a gold color and then there's going to be tons of henna inspired decals and accents in dark purple, turquoise, emerald green, and a ruby color." Piper said.

Jason looked around and nodded knowing that Piper knew what she was doing with her design. So he just went with her and then Leo and Calypso walked in carrying all the things they needed for Piper's room make over.

"There you go, every color we went and picked out the other day." Leo grinned, "So are we ready to get priming?"

Piper nodded, "Sure."

* * *

Piper walked around the Independence Day Festival with Thalia and Annabeth. They were looking at all of the things that were offered in the town and Thalia and Piper had both caved and bought their favorite raspberry jam, and Annabeth had already gotten herself a thing of honey.

"Nico says Percy's pouting again." Thalia said.

"Maybe we should head over there." Annabeth replied as she started towards the Ferris Wheel where they decided to meet up with the guys. Piper was happy that she had worn her favorite flowy white shirt and black skirt because it was hot even if the sun was going to set soon. She couldn't wait for the dance and the fireworks because they were definitely the best part of the whole Festival. Jason smiled when they walked over and Percy practically tackled Annabeth with a hug even though he had just seen her not even an hour before. They had separation anxiety.

"So I think we should take a ride on the Tunnel O' Love." Percy said pointing to the rather demonic looking ride with the cliche swans and creepy cherubs that fluttered their wings.

"It looks like we'd be taking a ride to sell our souls." Jason muttered.

"The Tunnel O' Love is romantic Jason, you just don't know anything about romantic." Percy pulled a face.

Jason pulled a face, "I'm sorry I don't watch the Notebook on loop."

Percy glared, "The Notebook is one of the greatest romantic movies of this century, you better take that back Grace."

"Girls you're both pretty, but we don't have time to argue about the Notebook and who's more romantic than the other." Thalia said before anything could go any further. Annabeth and Piper snickered at the faces Jason and Percy made.

Somehow they all ended up on the Tunnel O' Love and Jason was pretty accurate when he said it looked like a ride straight to Hell to sell your soul. It was supposed to be scary however Piper looked back and didn't see Thalia and Nico's boat anywhere. They must have skipped out on it.

After they got off the ride Percy looked around disappointedly, "I should have known Thalia and Nico would skip out."

"Why are you so upset by that?" Annabeth asked she still looked pretty shaky from the spiders on the ride.

"I wanted to see them act like a couple." Percy pouted.

Piper giggled, "Percy, they act like one all the time."

"False, I've never once seen them hug or kiss. I only ever see them talking to one another." Percy challenged.

"I see them act like a couple all the time." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"No you don't!" Percy sounded scandalized.

Annabeth nodded, "They act like a couple all the time, you're too busy being a Seaweed Brain to notice."

Percy frowned, "Well we better find them before...oh my God they're doing something couple-y!"

"Shh Seaweed Brain, shut up!" Annabeth said before clapping her hand over Percy's mouth. Thalia and Nico were sharing an Elephant Ear covered in cherries and powdered sugar in the park. Nico was feeding it to her and Piper had to admit it looked romantic possibly only because Nico was Italian made things like that look romantic.

"We should give them some space." Piper smiled.

"I want to see them kiss!" Percy insisted. Annabeth rolled her eyes and dragged him off behind her towards the fry stand. Piper and Jason followed them and decided that they were hungry as well.

"So what are we going to do?" Annabeth asked.

"Well we could spy on my OTP." Percy suggested.

"What's an OTP?" Jason asked curiously.

Annabeth groaned, "Please don't get him started."

"An OTP my dear Grace, is a one true pairing, for instance Thalico is my OTP. A NOTP is something I do not ship and do not wish to become canon and for instance that would be something like Thaluke." Percy explained.

Jason nodded, "You ship my sister and Nico? What the hell is Thalico?"

"I want them to become canon. Thalico is their ship name." Percy nodded.

"What's a ship name?" Jason asked wanting to know how Percy knew all of this terminology.

"A ship name is the names of the people you wish to be canonically involved with one another and are mashed up; for instance you and Piper's ship name would be Jasiper. I want that to become canon as well.?" Percy explained. Jason noticed that Piper blushed and moved away slightly.

"They're already canon Seaweed Brain. I thought you shipped Frank and Hazel as your OTP." Annabeth shook her head.

"Since they're now canon they're only one of my ships." Percy explained.

"Whatever I'm done having this conversation and you're going to stay away from Thalico or whatever you call them." she muttered.

Percy wrapped his arms around Annabeth and kissed her cheek, "You know I think we should go on the Ferris Wheel."

"Hey guys." they all turned to find Luke walking over to them with a huge smile on his face and a bouquet of bright red carnations.

"What are you doing with flowers?" Percy asked.

"Oh, um these are supposed to be for Thalia. Do you know where I can find..."

"Luke?"

Percy frowned as Thalia walked over with Nico in tow. Luke turned and grinned at the young brunette, "Thals."

"I'm not letting him mess with my OTP." Percy muttered. Piper was giggling softly at Percy's determination to protect his OTP.

"What are you doing here?" Thalia asked.

"I came to see you." Luke smiled handing her the flowers.

Thalia took them and then looked back at Nico who looked like he wanted to deck Luke right then and there, "Thanks but I'm sorta' on a date right now."

"With who?" Luke asked he looked genuinely shocked that Thalia had actually moved on. Honestly it had shocked all of them considering that Luke ran off to another school and cheated on Thalia. No one thought Thalia would ever date again however they were wrong when Nico asked her to the fireworks last summer and they've been dating ever since...as much as Percy would love to say otherwise.

"Nico." Thalia said smiling at the frowning Italian.

Luke didn't say anything for a moment and he just looked at Nico who Piper had to admit was slightly intimidating. He was as tall as Luke, with dark eyes that were pretty scary, and he had a pretty good build for a guy in a band. Luke nodded, "Well it was nice talking to you."

"Same to you." Thalia smiled. Piper noted that she looked like she was going to cry.

"I'll see you around then." Luke nodded, "It was good to see you guys again."

They nodded and watched as Luke awkwardly walked away. Piper blinked and then saw Thalia run off, Nico following after her. She knew they were either going to fight or Nico was going to stay quiet and hold her like he usually did. The rest of the night was kind of heavy but they managed to have a good time once Thalia and Nico reappeared at the Ferris Wheel.

Jason walked Piper to her door and hugged her before biding her goodnight, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Piper nodded, "Of course."

"The fireworks are tomorrow." Jason smiled.

"Right, so is the dance." Piper smiled.

"Are you going to the dance?" Jason asked her curiously.

"Of course I am. It's one of the best things about the Festival." Piper grinned. That's when the porchlight illuminated the dark porch and Hedge stuck his head out.

"That's long enough cupcakes."

Piper rolled her eyes and hugged Jason once more, "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Jason."

"Night Piper." Jason smiled as she walked into the house. She was getting closer and closer to the old Piper that Jason was beginning to become hopeful. It made him happy to think that she was returning to the way she used to be.

* * *

The next morning Piper woke up and started to prepare things for the huge Fourth of July BBQ that she and her friends were going to have. She started on her famous Loaded Baked Potato Salad, Greek Pasta Salad, and a few other things. She made sure that she started the Jell-o in four different flavors. Then there was a knock on the door. She had a ton of fun at the dance and the fireworks that they always hold the night before the Fourth. So Piper agreed to hold a BBQ at her house and everyone was bringing something to contribute to the feast.

So when Piper heard the doorbell she was hoping to find Jason who she had a blast with at the dance, however when she answered the door she found and puffy eyed Thalia. Piper's heart broke seeing Thalia like that considering that Thalia was pretty good at masking emotions.

"Can I talk to you?" Thalia asked.

"Of course you can." Piper smiled and stepped aside so Thalia could walk in. She led Thalia to the living room and motioned for her to sit on the couch next to her.

"What's wrong?" Piper asked placing her hand on Thalia's shoulder.

"I think Nico and I broke up." Thalia sniffled.

Piper remembered her saying that today was their anniversary, "Tell me everything...or would you rather not talk about it?"

Thalia shook her head, "I'm trying to make sense of the whole thing myself. We started fighting about Luke and then he accused me of still having feelings for him and it turned into a yelling match. It was terrible and I can't even make odds or ends of it."

Piper hugged Thalia tightly, "Did either of you actually call it off?"

"That's what I'm confused about because he stormed out and told me not to call him or text him." Thalia shook her head, "I don't want it to be over Piper, I love him."

"I know Thalia, we're going to fix this. However you need to calm down a little bit." Piper said.

Thalia nodded, "Do you mind if I stick around here?"

Piper shook her head, "Of course not, do you want to help me in the kitchen?"

Thalia nodded and wiped away some of her tears, "Sure, what are we doing?"

"I need some help making some of the dips and what not." Piper smiled as she and Thalia walked into the kitchen.

Piper and Thalia set to work making dips and pouring chips into bowls and drinks into glasses. They got the deck set up and made sure that the pool was perfect and the decorations were ready. Thalia was surprisingly good in the kitchen.

"Who is supposed to grill the hot dogs and burgers?" Thalia asked.

"Leo said he would grill when he got here." Piper replied.

"So you and Jason huh?" Thalia asked.

Piper shook her head, "No, we're just friends."

"You guys look cute together." Thalia smiled, "You make him happy."

"He makes me happy, but we're not dating." Piper said.

"You guys should date." Thalia smiled as she straightened some of the pillows on the couch in one of the cabanas.

Piper just smiled and continued her work. She was used to people telling her that she and Jason needed to date but now that his sister was saying it, Piper didn't know how exactly to react. She heard the doorbell and went to go get it. Thalia stayed out and continued to straighten things and make sure everything was ready. She opened the door to find Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Calypso, and Nico.

"Um, everything's out on the deck. I think Thalia's started the grill." Piper said. She noticed conflicting emotions flash across Nico's face when he heard the name. However everyone headed out to the deck except for Jason who stayed and helped Piper get a few things out and then Frank, Hazel, Rachel, Grover, and Juniper got there.

"How long has Thalia been here?" Jason asked.

"About three or four hours." Piper replied, "She wanted to talk to me."

"I know, I told her to come here." Jason smiled.

Piper shoved Jason playfully, "She was a huge help in the kitchen."

"She usually is." Jason smiled.

The BBQ was kicked off and they were having tons of fun. It was something Piper loved to do, she loved entertaining and the past couple years she hasn't been able to because everyone voted that the BBQ should be held at Percy's. The fireworks were successful and they were having so much more fun than they used to, or maybe that's because Piper had started to change her attitude towards hanging out with her friends.

She and Jason were sitting out by the pond in the dual swings, she could see all of her friends having fun in the pool, "This is so much fun."

"We should do this more often." Jason smiled.

"I've missed entertaining." Piper said.

"You always throw the best parties." Jason grinned. He had noticed that the nose stud had finally come out and she had gone back to wearing no makeup. Before Jason could think about what he was doing he leaned forward and brushed his lips against Piper's.

Piper scooted closer to him wrapped her arms around his neck. Jason smiled into the kiss and soon it was time for the two of them to need air.

Piper looked at him and smiled, "Finally."

"Finally." Jason chuckled. Piper had waited for ages for him to kiss and she thought that they were going to the night they were dancing in the rain. She had wanted to kiss him so badly that it had been ridiculous. She pulled him in for another kiss and then they heard footsteps.

They looked out to find Thalia and Nico arguing. Piper decided that they were going to get the pair back together at the ball at the end of the next week and she got Jason on board with the idea. She was finding herself again and Jason would do anything to keep her on that track.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for not updating for so long, my stupid internet was acting up again. This chapter is a little confusing so if you have questions feel free to PM me, please don't hate on me because I'm most likely going to split up the little bit of Jeyna that exists in this chapter. Please review, I've loved the feedback from the previous chapters! Thanks for all of the reviews and follows. I'll try to update again, so please enjoy this chapter and let me know how you like it. I think I might lengthen the story to through to Piper's early twenties rather than stop at the beginning of her senior year so if it takes a huge time lapse that is the idea I'm going with there. I'm still thinking it out. Please enjoy! :D ~Bolts and Trees **

The next morning something happened. Piper went to go see Jason and pulled in to find Reyna's purple convertible parked in the driveway. She could see Jason and Reyna in the window, and they were kissing. Piper figured that they most likely got back together and she decided that maybe it was best for her to leave. She couldn't help but cry on her way back home. It wasn't like she could stop Jason and Reyna from getting back together, she actually should have seen it coming sooner or later. However Jason had acted like he liked her so it felt like a slap in the face to have Jason act like that and then get back together with Reyna.

Piper tore through the box of things Mellie was supposed to donate but never got around to and grabbed all of her old wardrobe. If Jason was going to play like that Piper could do the same thing. She found the shortest dress that she couldn't alter and the highest heels she owned and ran up to her room. She put her nose ring back in, caked on the make up, and texted Rachel to know where the next party would be. She walked past her craft room where the dress she had been altering for the ball was still on the mannequin and had to ignore the tears that were threatening to fall.

Piper tore through the house and Mellie poked her head out of the kitchen, "Where are you going Piper?"

"I'm going out." Piper replied before grabbing the keys for her Mustang and tearing out of the house. She pulled into the driveway of the massive Tanaka residence and parked her car. She walked into the party and could smell the usual cigarette smoke, the different drugs, and the alcohol. She made her way over to the kitchen where she grabbed a beer and then went to go see what she could find at the party. She could hear the Justin Bieber song playing and wanted to gag but she didn't.

Drew and her little gang walked over to Piper and smiled, "You made it!"

Piper nodded, "I did, I couldn't resist a party here."

Drew smiled, "There's a few college guys here. They'd be interested in you."

Piper smiled, "Sounds like fun."

"I thought you and Jason were together." Drew said with a fake smile.

Piper shook her head, "No, he and Reyna are back together."

"Oh, that sucks. You know you change for the guy and then he gets back together with his ex-girlfriend." Drew said with the sugary sweet fake smile.

Piper nodded, "Well it was my decision to do something stupid."

"So I'll direct you to those college guys. They're more your speed than mine." Drew smiled.

Piper followed Drew towards the attractive group of three college boys.

"Boys this is my friend Piper, Piper this is Will Solace, Jake Mason, and Butch Holston." Drew smiled.

* * *

Piper smiled and instantly found Will Solace totally attractive. After talking with them for awhile she decided that if anyone she'd want to be with Will. So when Will asked her if she wanted to go dance she readily agreed to it and after two beers she was a little loose.

Will was an expert on the dance floor and before Piper knew it they were making out in the back of her Mustang. Piper was straddling his waist and she could feel her dress riding up farther and farther. However even with three beers in her she still couldn't get Jason out of her mind. She thought she had finally gotten somewhere with her hopeless crush on him but apparently she wasn't worth the time of day to him.

She pulled away from Will with tears in her eyes. He frowned, "Are you ok?"

Piper nodded and wiped the tears away, taking pounds of mascara and eyeliner with it, "No I'm fine."

"Then why are you crying? Did you just get out of a bad relationship or something?" he asked softly. Piper had to admit Will was one of the nicest college guys she's ever met at a party.

"No, I'm fine." she smiled through the tears.

"Look I don't want you to feel like I'm a bad guy or..."

"I don't think that. Most guys would just try to continue. It's me, not you." she smiled wiping her tears again.

"It's a guy isn't it?" he asked.

She nodded, "Yeah it is."

"Look, let me give you a ride home and I'll just have Butch come pick me up. You don't need to be driving and I think you need some sleep." Will smiled.

Piper laughed, "You're going to do all that for a girl you just met?"

Will nodded, "As much as you know about college boys at a party, some of us are nice."

Piper wiped the tears from her eyes and then looked at him, "Actually could you not take me back to my place?"

Will looked at her, "Well the only other place I could take you would be my place and I don't think you'd want to go there."

"That's fine." she nodded.

He looked over at her and helped her climb into the front seat considering that she was tipsy but wasn't completely drunk. She waited for him and he walked around to the driver's side. She noticed that he didn't have anything to drink the whole time she had seen him. After about ten minutes they pulled into the driveway of a frat house and Will led Piper to his room.

"You can take the bed, I'll be ok on the couch." Will said gesturing to the bed.

Piper kicked her heels off and fell asleep. She woke up the next morning and Will was awake, "Good morning Sleeping Beauty."

Piper had a massive headache. She decided that she needed to stop going to parties. She sat up and smiled, "Good morning."

"Hey, are you feeling alright?" he asked.

"Just a headache, I'll be fine." she smiled.

He handed her a glass of water and two Tylenols, "Here this'll help."

She took it and before long she decided that she should probably head home. Will asked if he could see her again and she agreed wondering what a college guy would want to do with a senior in high school. She knew that he was only a year older than her so it wasn't too bad.

"Thanks for everything." she smiled.

"It was no problem." he smiled, "I hope things work out for you."

She smiled and then found her car. Mellie and Hedge were still sleeping when she got back and there were several texts on her phone from Jason. She ignored them and went to go get the mail where she found her invitation to Julia Grace's charity ball. She decided that since it was plus one and she was going on her father's behalf, who had already wrote the check, she could bring a date. She knew that all of her friends would be there because Julia made it open to the whole town and you could donate if you had the money.

She knew that the ball was coming up but she decided that she wasn't going to wear the dress she had been working on. So she decided to go with something else. She found another dress that had belonged to her mother before she ran off and decided to wear it for the ball. It was a flowy white Grecian style dress and she had the jewelry to match it. There were only a few more days until the ball and she still didn't know who to ask as a date.

Piper could hear her phone ring and she looked at the number; Jason. A picture of them cooking popped up on the screen. She decided to ignore it and went to go ask her father if she could wear the dress. She got the text back saying he hoped she would wear it. Piper decided that there was nothing wrong with her so she decided on going back to the way she was.

* * *

Jason walked into the kitchen where Thalia was cooking quietly, "Hey you're quiet today."

She shrugged, "I'm tired."

"You usually listen to music while you cook, I actually missed my daily dose of Jesus of Suburbia." Jason teased.

Thalia smiled, "I didn't want to listen to music today."

Then it hit Jason, it would remind her of Nico who always covered the song when his band had a gig. She went back to tossing the sizzling peppers, onions, and chicken in the skillet. Jason then took this as an opportunity to ask if she'd heard anything from Piper, "Have you heard from Piper?"

Thalia shook her head, "Not really, however Percy and Annabeth are coming over for dinner tonight."

"I've called her at least twenty times." Jason frowned.

"Do you think something happened?" Thalia asked as she pulled out a stack of flour tortillas.

"She's probably just sleeping." Jason shrugged. The doorbell rang and Jason opened it to find Reyna. She smiled and walked in when Jason stepped aside.

"Hey, I was hoping that I could talk to you." she smiled.

"About what?" he asked. Jason smiled but he didn't know how well it was holding up. Reyna was a great girl and everything but he had honestly fallen for Piper.

"I was thinking about your mother's ball." Reyna smiled.

"What about it?" Jason asked.

"Did you already have a date?" Reyna asked, "I'd understand considering that we were broken up."

Jason shook his head, "No, I didn't."

Reyna smiled, "Well that's perfect."

"Do you have a dress?" Jason asked. He felt incredibly guilty considering that he had indeed asked Piper and now he was going to have to explain to her why they couldn't go together. Then there was the fact that he had kissed her, changed her back to the old Piper, and fallen for her as well. That was going to be hard to ignore. Then again he hadn't heard from Piper since that night so maybe she was a little freaked out. He didn't like not hearing from Piper for three days.

"Are you alright Jas?" Reyna asked him.

Jason nodded, "I'm fine."

Reyna smiled but Jason could tell that she wasn't fully buying it, "Ok, you just look a little distracted."

"I'm fine Rey." he smiled and kissed her cheek.

He knew Reyna most likely wasn't buying it but Jason didn't want to continue talking about it. The doorbell ran and Percy and Annabeth walked in. Thalia stuck her head out from the kitchen, "Oh, Reyna are you going to stay for dinner?"

"If you'll have me." she smiled.

"There's plenty to go around." Thalia smiled. So Jason walked into the kitchen and Thalia shut the door.

"I thought you were into Piper." she raised her eyebrows.

"I am, but I still have feelings for Reyna." Jason muttered.

"Jason you can't string Piper along and then get back together with Reyna, nor can you string Reyna along when you clearly have a thing to Piper. So it's either one or the other." Thalia said.

Jason looked at Thalia who was starting to walk towards the door, "Is that why you and Nico broke up?"

Thalia turned and shook her head, "No, there's other reason behind why Nico and I broke up. Jason don't scorn two girls."

She walked out the door and went to go get everyone. Thalia had a point. Jason had strung Piper along and then truly fell for her, however he still had feelings for Reyna and now he was back together with Reyna.

Jason wondered why exactly Thalia and Nico had broken up. It had happened so suddenly that it shocked everyone. He knew his sister wasn't happy and Jason decided that he needed to help her out so maybe if she wasn't worrying about him as much maybe Thalia would be a little happier.

Dinner was pretty uneventful, no one was talking about anything interesting. Reyna stuck around for a little while to watch a movie after dinner but Jason couldn't keep his mind off of Piper. After Reyna left Jason went to Piper's to see if she was ok.

Mellie answered the door, "Jason, what a lovely surprise."

"Is Piper here?" Jason asked.

"I'm sorry hon, you just missed her. She went to a movie with Rachel and Hazel." Mellie frowned.

"Oh, is her phone broken?" Jason asked.

Mellie shook her head, "No I just talked to her a few minutes ago because she called to tell me she was staying over at Rachel's."

Jason nodded, "Thanks, when you see just tell her to give me a call or something."

Mellie smiled and nodded, "Of course sweetheart."

Jason walked back to his car and went home. Why was Piper avoiding him? Did he freak her out? No there was something else. She wouldn't call him, she wouldn't answer his calls, and now she always gone.

Jason went to his favorite ice cream place where he ran into Nico. Nico was with his sister Bianca getting ice cream, "Hey Nico."

Nico turned around and smiled at Jason awkwardly, "Hey Jason."

Bianca smiled, "Is Thalia here?"

Jason shook his head, "Um nah, she's at home with Percy and Annabeth."

Bianca frowned, "That sucks, I really wanted to see her."

Jason had a feeling that Bianca didn't know about Thalia and Nico's break up. She continued to sip her strawberry shake and Nico stayed quiet which wasn't completely odd for the dude, he was usually quiet.

"I'll tell her you said hi." Jason smiled.

"Please do, I haven't seen her around the house lately. My mom misses her too." Bianca smiled. Nico was still quiet.

"I'll be sure to tell her." Jason smiled before ordering a chocolate shake at the counter.

Nico followed him, "Look can you not tell Bianca. She'll get all concerned and then she'll want to know every detail."

"Why did you two break up?" Jason decided to ask.

Nico didn't say anything for a moment, "It was my fault, it wasn't Thalia's."

"Then why don't you two just get back together? Just work it out." Jason shrugged.

Nico shook his head, "There's no way she'd want me back."

"Are you kidding the girl won't even listen to her favorite song because it reminds her of you. You two just need to get back together." Jason muttered.

"Much like you and Piper need to get together?" Nico asked.

"What really happened between you and Thalia?" Jason asked curiously.

"I cheated." Nico replied.

"You cheated?" Jason asked.

Nico nodded, "I cheated on her when we first started dating and then just recently. I love your sister but there's no way she'll want me back."

"It was Rachel wasn't it?" Jason asked curiously.

"God no, Rachel wouldn't do that to Thalia. It was Drew." Nico said. Jason could tell that he was ashamed because Drew happens to be the one Luke had cheated with.

"Have you talked to her?" Jason asked, "I'm sure she'll listen. I honestly thought you two were arguing about Luke."

"That's how it started off and then I accused her of cheating and then she let me know that she knew." Nico shook his head, "I don't she'll listen to me."

"You should give it a try. I think she'll listen." Jason smiled.

"Maybe." Nico smiled.

* * *

"Piper is your dress short enough?" Rachel asked as they stood in line at the box office.

Piper rolled her eyes and shook her head, "No, it could be much shorter."

"I thought Jason bought you tons of new dresses." Rachel raised her eyebrows.

"Well I don't think Jason truly cared." Piper muttered.

Rachel looked over at her, "What makes you say that?"

"He's back together with Reyna." Piper shrugged.

Rachel didn't say anything else and it was finally their turn to get their tickets. They decided to go see The Fault In Our Stars, and they all cried. Piper knew Thalia and Annabeth had already seen it with Calypso. So they decided to go see it.

"Do you think Thalia and Nico are going to get back together?" Rachel asked as they waited in line for popcorn and pop. They already had like fifty boxes of candy in their purses.

"I hope so, they're cute together." Piper replied.

"Piper?" it was Will.

Piper turned and smiled, "Hey Will."

Will smiled and hugged Piper, "It's good to see you again."

Rachel and Hazel looked at Piper, "Yeah, Will these are my friends Rachel Dare and Hazel Levesque. Rachel, Hazel this is Will Solace."

Will smiled, "It's nice to meet you ladies."

It turned out Will was also going to the same movie Piper and her friends were so he ended up sitting next to them. Piper couldn't help but think that Rachel and Will would look cute together, they were only about a year apart. So she arranged for Will and Rachel to sit next to one another and sure enough they hit it off and Rachel ended up going out for dessert with Will.

Hazel dropped Piper off at her house and Mellie greeted her, "You're home."

"Yeah, it turns out I couldn't stay at Rachel's." Piper smiled.

"Well why don't we go out to the lake tomorrow?" Mellie asked, "Gleeson is out in L.A. with your father and we haven't spent any time together since I've gotten here."

Piper smiled and hugged Mellie, "Sure, sounds like a lot of fun."

Mellie smiled, "Are you going to head off to bed or would you like to join me for some dessert?"

"Dessert sounds nice but I think I'm going to go change really quick." Piper smiled.

Mellie nodded, "Meet me in the kitchen."

Piper changed into a pair of her favorite pajamas and went to go meet Mellie in the kitchen. She had two slices of Piper's favorite cake waiting with a glass of Piper's favorite sparkling mango juice.

"So why hasn't Jason been around lately?" Mellie asked.

"He's probably busy with his girlfriend Reyna." Piper shrugged before taking a bite of the blueberry cake that must have been freshly made.

"He's got a girlfriend?" Mellie asked.

Piper nodded, "Yeah, Reyna, they must have gotten back together."

Mellie frowned, "Well he stopped by when you were at the movies and asked if I'd tell you to call him."

"Oh." Piper didn't say anything else. She didn't really want to talk to Jason or see him, "Hey, there's this charity ball thing and I was thinking I'm allowed to bring a guest with me and since Hedge is with my father, do you want to go?"

Mellie smiled, "Of course, I've been wanting to talk to some of your friend's parents."

"It's next Friday." Piper smiled.

"Don't worry, I have a dress." Mellie smiled.

Piper hugged Mellie tightly. It had been awhile since Piper's had a hug like that. With her father never really being around Piper didn't really have anyone to hug but she couldn't hold them back anymore.

"Piper, sweetie what''s wrong?" Mellie asked smoothing her hair down.

Piper shook her head, "There's nothing wrong."

"Then why are you crying sweetheart?" Mellie asked holding Piper close to her tiny body.

Piper hugged Mellie back tightly, "I'm lonely Mellie."

"Oh sweetie, there are plenty of people who love you, you're not lonely. Leo called earlier and asked if you wanted to help him with something. Jason stopped by to come see you, your father asked about you this morning." Mellie whispered, "You have me and Gleeson."

Piper looked up at Mellie, "Jason doesn't care. He was just there because he and Reyna were broken up. My father's never around. I'll give it to Leo, I'm a terrible friend. Leo's always been there for me."

Mellie looked down at Piper, "When did all of this nonsense start?"

Piper shook her head, "It was a cry for attention. This isn't me, I'm just sick of people who try to change me and they end up not actually caring about me."

"Piper, honey, you are so loved and you don't even know it. Your father wanted to know how you're holding up, he feels like it's his fault that you never had a mother figure in your life...he blames himself for all the problems you went through with Jane. He blames himself for your feelings. I'm sure Jason does care..."

"No he doesn't. He just likes to toy with me. It's been happening since the ninth grade and I should have known that this was coming. I don't understand why the hell this hurts so much...wait I know, it's because I actually love him." Piper whispered.

"Piper, it's ok to hurt. You just need to talk, you don't always have to be so strong. You're tough and you never want anyone to see your emotions and those who truly love you know because they can see it." Mellie whispered.

Piper thought back on everything. She had lost her mother as a child, she had gotten into a fatal car accident considering that she had been walking across the street and a drunk driver hit her. Her father then became a superstar actor and was busy so he could have the money to raise his daughter. Leo was always there and knew when something was wrong. He could read her better than almost anyone and she had completely tossed him aside when she realized that she liked Jason who never truly cared...or so it seemed like he never truly cared about her. Then there was Mellie and Hedge, they had always cared about her but there was still something that made her feel lonely.

"I'm sorry Mellie." Piper whispered.

"Sorry for what? Finding yourself?" Mellie asked with a small chuckle.

"Finding myself?" Piper asked.

"Piper you don't truly know yourself yet, goodness you're not going to know yourself until you're older. It takes years to truly find yourself, I'm still finding parts of myself. You have plenty of people who love you and care for you and you just need to surround yourself with those people. They'll most definitely help you find yourself and then you'll truly know what you want in life, who you want yourself to be. Right now you're Piper McLean in progress. You're still finding Piper McLean." Mellie whispered.

Piper sat there with Mellie until she couldn't keep her head up and she was so tired that she wanted to fall asleep sitting up. Mellie tucked Piper into her bed and kissed her forehead, "Goodnight Piper."

Piper fell asleep and woke up the next morning. She decided that she was going to go about this her own way, she was going to find herself even if that meant leaving the moment she was out of high school. She only had one more year and then she was out of there. Maybe she'd travel, maybe she'd go to live in the city. Piper quickly changed before running down to the shed where her rabbits were kept.

She reached in and petted Thor and Jane, made sure that Loki had his favorite toy to play with, she brushed Clint and Natasha who's coats were growing back nicely, patted Tony, and then checked on Pepper and her kits. She had a litter of five kits and they were getting ready for Piper to sell, however Piper decided to keep at least one of them that she ended up naming her Marvel.

Piper turned to find Mellie standing there, "I figured you'd be down here."

"Hey Mellie." Piper smiled.

"So did you think about it?" she asked.

Piper nodded, "I think I'm going to travel once I'm out of high school."

"Travel?" Mellie asked.

Piper nodded, "I think traveling would be good for me."

"Well you have one more year." Mellie smiled before stroking Pepper, "Are you selling the rest?"

Piper nodded, "I'm going to keep Marvel and I'm going to sell the other four."

"Would you like me to put up a sign in the front yard?" Mellie asked.

Piper shook her head, "People know where to find rabbits."

Mellie smiled and squeezed Piper's shoulders, "Come in for lunch when you're hungry."


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm sorry this took so long to update. I got a little bit of a writer's block for a moment there plus I was deciding where the story was headed. This chapter contains some very adorable Jasiper and of course there's Percy being a fangirl trying to fix his OTP at the moment. So please enjoy the chapter and tell me how you like it! I'll try to update again soon, and of course there's the apology that this chapter is a little shorter than the others. Please enjoy and review!~ Bolts and Trees :D**

Piper walked out of the bathroom after taking a long shower. Mellie was getting ready in her room and Piper was glad she had asked Mellie to go with her. She and Mellie had spent a lot of time together that week and for once Piper felt like she had someone to go to when she needed to. She quickly curled her hair and then tied it up onto an intricate up-do, she did her makeup and made sure that she had everything she needed. She smeared some red lipstick on her lips quickly and then went to go put the dress on.

She ran her fingers over the silky fabric of the white Grecian style dress and smiled. Her mother loved this dress and Piper remembered seeing it on her in magazines and plenty of family pictures. She gently slipped the dress on and looked at herself in the mirror, she looked exactly like her mother. She looked so much like her mother that it was scary. She heard something behind her at the door, "You look just like her you know."

She turned to find her father standing there wearing a tux, "Dad, you're home?"

Tristan smiled at his daughter, "I am, I decided that I didn't like the script."

Piper smiled and ran towards her father before throwing her arms around him and hugging him, "I'm glad you're home."

He hugged her tightly, "I am too, but I think we have a ball to get to."

Piper smiled and then noticed Mellie standing there with Hedge, she knew that Mellie and Hedge would most likely go back to their place and Piper would stay with her father, "You're going with me?"

He nodded, "Of course I am."

Piper smiled and hugged her father once more before they headed out to her father's shiny BMW convertible. They arrived at the country club where Julia's charity ball was being held and Piper instantly found all of her friends there. They all looked amazing. Piper's heart started to beat out of her chest when she saw Jason standing there in a tux, his blonde hair was tidied, his tan skin stood out against the white shirt, and then she saw Reyna standing there in a gorgeous deep purple and gold gown. Her heart was stabbed with a little resentment.

"I'm going to go talk with Mr. Chase, I'll catch up with you later." her father smiled before walking over to the blonde man who was talking with Percy's parents. Sally's book had taken off and recently she's started working on a sequel.

Piper took a deep breath and walked over to her friends who were all chatting and sipping on sparkling juice, "I thought you weren't going to come."

Piper accepted the glass of sparkling juice that Thalia offered her, "I didn't know my father was going to be here."

Thalia smiled, "You got a nice little surprise."

Piper nodded, "I didn't expect him to come back so early. He said something about not liking the script."

"So, you look amazing." Thalia smiled taking a sip of her own sparkling juice.

"Thanks, you do too." Piper smiled. Thalia wore a gorgeous bright blue gown that hugged her curves and Piper had to admit looked a little more risque than what Thalia would usually wear. Piper made note that Luke was talking with Jason and that Percy was glaring at Luke while dancing with Annabeth.

"Why's Luke here?" Piper asked.

"He asked if he could come." Thalia shrugged, "Apparently he went through my mother and she agreed."

Piper nodded, "His waistcoat matches your dress."

"That's a total coincidence, he's been practically stalking me for the past two weeks." Thalia rolled her eyes.

Piper smiled, "So, have you talked with Nico lately?"

"No, I haven't." the brunette shook her head.

"I think you should, it'll clear a lot up. I'll even be there if you want me to be there." Piper smiled.

Thalia shook her head, "I think we're over for good, besides he came here with a date."

Piper choked on her sparkling juice, "He did?"

"Yeah, he showed up with Drew." Thalia shrugged, "His choice."

Piper and Thalia then joined in with their friends. She was having tons of fun and then dinner was served. She smiled at her father who was sitting with her friends' parents. She noted that she was seated next to Jason who hadn't tried to make contact with her the whole evening.

She took her seat between Jason and Annabeth and unfolded her napkin making sure that it rested in her lap. Jason leaned over and finally decided to talk to her, "A bit over the top isn't it?"

"No, it's a charity ball." Piper rolled her eyes and waited as the waiters walked around giving them their options between chicken, prime rib, salmon, or the vegetarian option. Piper decided to go with the prime rib considering that she had given up her vegetarian vows for the ever glorious bacon.

"You look great." Jason whispered.

"Thanks. You do too." Piper replied and went back to cutting her meat into edible pieces.

"You haven't talked to me for weeks." Jason whispered.

"I've been busy." she said which wasn't completely a lie but it wasn't completely the truth.

"You've been busy?" he asked not completely buying it.

Piper tucked a loose curl behind her ear and took a bite of the delicious dinner, "I've been busy doing things."

Jason didn't reply however he started a conversation with Reyna and Leo. Thalia and Luke were talking about something and she noticed Nico look over jealously from his spot next to Drew, the girl Luke had cheated on Thalia with, head cheerleader at their school, and the ultimate skank who had ripped apart countless relationships.

"So, how have you been lately?" Annabeth asked Piper.

"I've been extremely busy, my father just got back today." Piper smiled.

"I noticed that he was talking with my father earlier." Annabeth smiled.

There was something about the charity ball was sort of heavy, however she decided that she needed to let go of the heaviness and try to have a good time. She ended up having a good time until it came to the point where everyone was dancing. She stood on the outside of the dance floor watching her friends dance with their significant others.

Piper stood there and then Jason walked over to her, "May I have this dance?"

She looked at him and nodded, "I guess so."

He laughed and grabbed her hand, leading her out onto the floor. He placed his hand on the small of her back and held her hand firmly. She rested her hand on his bicep and allowed him to lead her through the dance.

"I'm sorry Piper." he whispered as they twirled past Reyna who was watching them with curious dark eyes.

"For what, you got back with your ex-girlfriend, you're at total liberty to date whomever you'd like." Piper rolled her eyes.

"I kissed you." Jason said, "If it means anything I really do like you."

"Don't make things harder than they need to be Jason, you're dating Reyna." Piper said.

Jason sighed, "Piper, I don't know why I worked things out with Reyna. I want to be with you, Reyna's a great girl and all but there's something that you and I have that I don't have with Reyna."

"Jason, look I don't want to focus on a relationship right now, I want to work on getting your sister and Nico back together." Piper lied. She did want a relationship with Jason but she didn't want to make it look like she was the reason Jason had left Reyna. She's already gotten that rep before and she didn't want that to happen again because people did hate her for the longest time.

"Piper I want a relationship with you." Jason whispered.

Piper stepped away from Jason, "I think you should get back to your date."

She backed away from Jason and decided to go take a walk outside in the garden that was illuminated with twinkling lights and there were several fountains running. She sighed and sat on one of the stone benches. She looked up and found the last person she had expected to be walking towards her.

"Piper." she smiled and took a seat next to her on the bench her deep purple dress fanned out around her.

"Hi Reyna." Piper smiled.

"You don't have to pretend. I know you like Jason and I know Jason likes you. I've been stupid for thinking that there's anything I can do to stop it." Reyna smiled.

"I don't like Jason..." Reyna stopped her.

"Piper I know you do. I think we'd all be happier if Jason and I broke up for good. You and Jason look cute together and you make him happier than I've ever seen him before." Reyna smiled.

"Reyna I'm not going to date Jason." Piper shook her head.

"He truly does like you Piper, there's no denying that. You'd be stupid not to date him." Reyna smiled.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked Reyna curiously.

"I'm not as bad as you think I am Piper, I have Jason's best interests at heart." Reyna smiled, "And right now you seem to be his best interest."

Piper shook her head, "I don't think I'm ready for a relationship right now."

Reyna shook her head, "You're scared."

"No I'm not." Piper shook her head.

"Piper, I've seen fear several times, I know what it looks like and when I look into your eyes I see fear. What are you scared of?" Reyna asked. Piper had never had a true conversation with Reyna and she didn't truly know what to expect.

"I'm not scared." she shook her head.

"Then what are you waiting for?" she asked.

"I don't want to look like the tramp Jason left you for. This has happened before and I really..."

"Piper I'm breaking it off with him because I know he'll be loads happier with you." Reyna laughed.

"You really aren't as bad as I thought you were." Piper smiled apologetically.

"Neither are you." Reyna smiled.

"Why are we just now getting along?" Piper asked with a slight laugh.

Reyna laughed, "I don't know, I guess we've been so blind over the whole Jason ordeal that we've never truly gotten to know one another."

Piper smiled and hugged Reyna tightly, "Thanks Reyna. Everything will work out for you."

Reyna smiled and hugged Piper back, "Don't worry about it Piper, things always work out the way they're supposed to."

* * *

After her talk with Reyna, Piper returned to the ball to find Jason standing there alone. She didn't see Reyna anywhere so she decided to go talk with Jason and face what she should have faced a long time ago.

"Hey, what's such a great dancer like you doing all alone?" she asked.

Jason smiled at her, "Waiting for the right dance partner."

"Then what are you waiting for stupid?" she asked.

"The lady's consent." he smiled and led her out onto the floor once more. He placed his hand on the small of her back, and held her hand firmly. She rested her hand on his bicep and they twirled around the floor like they had moments earlier.

"You really do look amazing." Jason smiled at her.

Piper rested her head on his chest and just closed her eyes for a moment. Her mind raced back to the night they were dancing in the rain. She loved that night and found herself thinking about it often, especially when she needed to smile.

"You look amazing too." Piper smiled.

She liked the butterflies in her stomach that she got whenever she was near Jason. Jason was an expert at dancing and Piper allowed him to lead her around the floor. They danced for what felt like moments but was truly hours, talking and smiling, and having so many moments that Piper was sure they'd beat Allie and Noah from the Notebook.

"This is romantic." Piper whispered.

"Isn't it though?" Jason chuckled and kissed the top of Piper's head. She looked up at him and smiled. She didn't want this moment to ever end, it was right up there with dancing in the rain. She wanted to play out this moment for the rest of her life.

"I was thinking about traveling after high school." Piper said.

Jason looked at her, "To where?"

"Europe, Asia, Australia. Anywhere." Piper smiled.

"Then I'm going with you." Jason whispered.

"What about your dreams of going to Harvard?" she asked.

"They'll have to wait." Jason whispered.

"You really want to go with me?" she asked.

"Wherever you go, I'll go." Jason whispered. Piper realized that Jason truly did care about her. He may have problems showing it but he truly did care about her.

"Sounds like a plan." Piper smiled.

Jason stopped twirling around the dance floor for the moment and then kissed her softly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She loved the tingly feeling that his lips left on hers and she drank in every moment of the kiss.

"Now we just have to get Thalia and Nico together." Piper smiled.

Jason nodded in agreement, "We do."

"I was thinking we could get them together at the Founders' Day Festival, we'll have a full week to get them together." Piper smiled and looked over at Thalia who was dancing with Luke and looked like she wanted to die.

"So are we canon now?" Jason asked.

Piper laughed and kissed him softly, "Yes, we are."

"Good, that's one less ship I have to worry about." Percy said from out of nowhere.

"Where did you come from?" Piper giggled.

"Word on the street is you're trying to get my OTP back together." Percy waggled his eyebrows.

"Maybe we are." Jason smirked.

"Well Annabeth and I want in on it." Percy said as he and Annabeth stopped swaying back and forth.

"Well, I guess you guys can help out." Piper smiled.

"Good because Luke doesn't deserve her and Drew doesn't deserve him." Annabeth said as they made their way over to a table where they sat and devised ways to get Percy's OTP back together.

* * *

Piper walked into the Grace house and found Thalia sitting on the couch eating from a Ben and Jerry's container of Phish Phood, "Hey where's Jason?"

"He's in the kitchen." Thalia said not even looking up from her ice cream.

"Are you ok?" Piper asked.

Thalia didn't reply so she walked into the kitchen where Jason was pulling a bubbling batch of mac and cheese out of the oven. She smiled and got plates and forks, "Surprise."

Jason smiled and kissed Piper's cheek, "You're just in time for dinner."

She smiled and helped Jason serve up the food, "Has Thalia done anything today?"

He shook his head, "She's been a zombie all day. It's not like her, usually when I wake up she has coffee and breakfast ready."

Piper nodded knowing how Thalia usually was, "Have you talked to her at all today?"

Jason nodded, "I tried but she's not much of an intellectual conversation these days."

Piper frowned and walked out to the living room where the distressed teenager was sitting eating her Ben and Jerry's, "Thals, what's wrong?"

Thalia looked up at Piper and shook her head, "Nothing's wrong."

"Are you aware that Jason's cooked all day?" Piper asked knowing that would pull her out of whatever funk she was in.

Thalia looked at Piper, "And he didn't blow up the house?"

Piper laughed, "No he hasn't managed that yet."

Thalia set the carton of ice cream down and cradled her face in her hands, "I'm sorry, I've been having a bad day."

Piper laughed and hugged Thalia, "It's fine Thalia, everyone has them now and then."

"It's just he had the audacity to bring the skank who tore Luke and I apart to my mother's charity ball and expects it to be alright with me." she said. Piper could hear the tears in her voice.

"Look, if Nico's going to be that much of a moron then let him be." Piper whispered. She hugged Thalia again and stood, "Jason made Mellie's homemade mac and cheese."

Thalia's head perked up and she wiped the tears from them, "Sounds amazing."

After dinner Thalia decided that she'd do the dishes so Piper and Jason went up to Jason's room. Jason noted that Piper was wearing a pair of black shorts, a white tank-top, and a thin red flannel over it.

"So, Percy's hanging out with Nico right now." Jason said, "It's guys night."

"Go, get the dish on Nico's side of the story and that'll help." Piper smiled.

"Will you stay here with Thalia?" Jason asked he was concerned about his sister.

Piper nodded, "Of course I will."

Jason kissed Piper quickly, "You're the best Pipes."

She smiled, "Go, I'll take care of Thalia."

* * *

Jason pulled into Percy's driveway and was inducted into a nice round of COD Black Ops. Nico was kicking Percy's ass. However Percy was managing to constitute a very important conversation, "So, you bring the skank who Luke cheated on her with to her mother's charity ball? What did you expect to come out of that man?"

Nico shrugged, "Drew's trying to tell me that she's pregnant with my kid."

"So that means you have to take her to a charity ball?" Percy asked, "Do you really want Thalia back man?"

Nico looked over at Percy, "Is that even supposed to be a question Jackson?"

"Then why don't you make Drew take a freaking test?" Percy asked as he killed three enemies in a row.

"I know I used a condom, I shouldn't have cheated on Thalia with Drew, but I know that I used a condom." Nico shook his head.

Percy raised his eyebrows, "You cheated bro?"

"It was a stupid, drunken decision." Nico muttered as the match ended and the final score was tallied.

"I didn't know you cheated." Percy scoffed, "Good luck getting her back bro."

"You don't think I don't know that Jackson?" Nico growled.

Jason decided to step in, "Nico the girl's a mess. She's been sitting on the couch eating Ben and Jerry's all day watching the Titanic, Thalia absolutely hates the Titanic."

"She's watching the Titanic?" Percy asked in shock.

Jason nodded, "She cries at the part where Jack stops Rose from committing suicide. She usually hates that movie."

"Do you think she'd talk to me if I went over there right now?" Nico asked pausing the new match they started.

Jason shrugged, "Not sure bro, Piper's with her right now."

"I need her back. I can't take life without her man." Nico shook his head.

Percy eyed Nico suspiciously, "How bad do you want her back?"

"Enough that I was practically doing the same thing she was but with the Notebook." Nico admitted.

"You watched the Notebook and...cried?! Nico diAngelo cried over the Notebook? Which part?" Percy asked as if this were scandalous.

"I teared up at the part where Noah told her that he wrote her a letter everyday for a year." Nico muttered.

Percy smirked, "I told you that movie was romantic Jason."

"That's beside the point, you want her back?" Jason asked Nico.

Nico nodded, "More than anything man. I've been thinking about standing outside her window and playing our song."

"That's a start." Percy muttered, "However you need to do a little more than sing your guys' song from outside her window."

"Like what? She won't answer my texts, calls, I've even emailed her!" Nico shook his head.

"The Founders' Day Festival." Jason answered, "I guarantee that we can get you two back together by the dance at the end of the Festival."

Nico looked at Jason and then at Percy, "I hope you two are right, where do we start?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, I actually updated on time! Sorry if these last two chapters have been a little short, I'm going to start working on a prequel story to this called Finding Thalia Grace, I feel like it's a good idea and it'll explain why I sorta' delve a little more into Thalico than the other pairings beside Jasiper, so please give that a chance when it's published. Let me know how you like this chapter, I'm going to try to post another chapter soon, and I think I might continue to where Piper and Jason end up traveling the world together. I think that would be adorable. I will be extending this past their senior year, I'm not sure if I'll focus on their senior year but I'll definitely be going into their lives after their senior year of high school. So let me know what you think of everything, and Piper and Jason are together...they weren't in previous chapters but they are now. I'll be tapering off of the Thalico now and focusing on Jasiper for the rest of the story so sorry about all the Thalico action. Please enjoy and review, I thank you for the reviews I've received this far, and I'll continue to thank for any future reviews, they help me out a lot! :D~ Bolts and Trees **

The next morning Jason decided to go out to get breakfast for Thalia and Piper since they had fallen asleep on the couch before he got home. He pulled into the parking lot of Dunkin' Donuts and got a dozen donuts, two large cookie dough iced coffees with cream and sugar, and a regular black coffee for himself. He then decided to go pick up something from McDonald's not knowing how hungry the girls might be.

When he got back and found Thalia and Piper sitting in the living room watching The Avengers because Thalia was in love with Loki, for some reason Loki made Thalia feel better. Jason was positive it was because of her crush on the actor who played him, she watched the Pirate Fairy just because he was the voice of Captain Hook.

"You girls hungry, I got donuts, coffee, and McDonald's?" Jason asked walking in and putting the food on the coffee table. That's when their mother walked in drinking her own coffee.

"Thalia have you moved since I left?" she asked snatching a jelly filled donut from the box.

"Nope, I don't have anything to do, so why move?" Thalia shrugged and took a sip of her coffee, "I've been watching movies with Piper."

"You haven't been the same since the charity ball, I've noticed Jason's done all the cooking." her mother said before biting into the donut.

"I've been to distracted to properly cook." Thalia shrugged.

She smiled and kissed both Jason and Piper on the cheek before going back out to her car, "I've got to jet, I'm needed in Paris for something, a designer friend of mine needs a muse. Plus it gives Chance and I some alone time."

Thalia rolled her eyes as the door closed, "Has she considered that Chance practically raised us because she was unfit to handle children? Chance actually likes us."

"Eat your donut." Jason muttered and hit her with one of the pillows on the couch. He took a seat next to Piper who was nibbling on a blueberry cobbler donut.

Thalia rolled her eyes and grabbed the McDonald's bag taking out whatever Jason had decided to order, "I can't believe that he'd have the audacity to bring Drew to my family's event."

Piper hugged Thalia, "You know what, maybe you should talk to him. I think talking would be good for you two."

Thalia looked at Piper, "You really think I should talk to that jackass?"

Piper nodded, "I think it'll help both of you."

Thalia shrugged and took a bite of the sandwich she had grabbed, "I don't want to talk to him right now."

"What about at the Festival?" Piper asked.

"I guess if he walked over and talked to me then I would talk to him but I'm not talking to him first, he's the one who ended it." Thalia shook her head.

Jason looked at her, "Wait he ended it?"

Thalia nodded, "I knew he was cheating and he broke up with me the same way Luke did. There's someone else, Thals, clearly you'll be ok..."

"That was a scary good impression of Nico." Jason said.

"Thank you I'm working on it for when I need to imitate him." Thalia smirked.

"I was under the impression that you broke it off." Jason said.

"Nope it was him." Thalia shook her head before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Well, the Festival start tomorrow night, we should all go together." Piper smiled.

"Sounds like a good plan, I volunteered to help set it up." Thalia shrugged, "I actually have to head there soon."

"We can help out. Are you meeting Annabeth and Percy?" Piper asked.

Thalia nodded, "Rachel and her new boyfriend are going to be there as well."

"Will's a pretty cool guy for a college dude." Jason said, "He was at guy's night."

"I'm glad he's fitting in." Piper smiled.

* * *

The group walked into the town square and was instantly given jobs to fill. Jason ended up helping Percy hang banners and Thalia, Annabeth, and Piper got to decorate. That's when Nico decided to join them.

"Hey, am I going to get to work with her?" Nico asked once Jason and Percy climbed down the ladders they were standing on.

"We weren't aware that you broke up with her the same way Luke did." Percy glared at Nico, "I'm really doubting that you want her back as much as you claim you want her back."

Nico rolled his eyes, "So I screwed up, I want her back."

"I'm hungry, who wants to go get burgers?" Jason asked.

"Burgers actually sound pretty good right now." Annabeth smiled as the girls walked over.

"Cool, let's head over to the diner." Jason smiled slinging his arm around Piper's shoulders. Percy wrapped his arm around Annabeth's waist and Thalia walked at least a foot and a half away from Nico.

The diner wasn't busy so they got their favorite table in the back.

"So, the Festival is going to be a blast." Percy said as he sipped on his Blue Moon milkshake.

"Yeah it is. Have you seen Rachel's mural?" Piper asked, "She got to paint one in the park."

"No I haven't, isn't Hazel helping her with it?" Percy asked.

"We stopped by and they're doing an amazing job." Thalia smiled.

Jason grabbed one of the fried pickles from the basket in the middle of the table and then decided to some conversation going, "So, what are we all going to do tomorrow?"

"Well we'll meet up at the Festival and we can just see where it'll go from there." Percy shrugged.

"There's going to be rides and music, isn't the local music festival going on this weekend?" Piper asked.

Nico nodded, "My band's competing."

"We'll have to go watch you guys." Jason nodded, monitoring Thalia with the corner of her eyes.

"Yeah, we can use all the support we can get." Nico smiled.

"When do you guys go on?" Annabeth asked grabbing a pickle for herself.

"We go on at nine tomorrow night and we play until eleven in the park." Nico said before taking a sip of his Rootbeer Float.

"We'll be there." Percy said.

"Good, I'll reserve a front row for you guys." Nico smiled.

"Isn't your band a cover band?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, we're in the running for best cover band in the junior division, there's five others competing with us." Nico shrugged.

* * *

The next night Jason picked Piper up for the Festival. She was wearing a vintage looking powder blue dress and a pair of simple white flats, it reminded him of Allie from the Notebook, and yes for the record he had seen the Notebook, he just didn't want Percy to know. Her nose ring glinted in the sunlight, and she wore some eyeliner, not a ton of eyeliner.

"I bought you a whole wardrobe, where did it go?" he joked as she climbed into the cab of his truck.

She stuck her tongue out, "It's in my closet."

He decided to drop the subject, "So everything's in place for Nico to win Thalia back."

"Good, this needs to be settled. We both know that they need to get back together." Piper smiled.

They found a place to park which conveniently happened to be behind Percy's Prius and near the park. Jason could hear Nico's band warming up.

"Thalia's supposed to be here with Percy and Annabeth." Jason said as they walked towards the pavilion where the band was taking the stage. There was ten minutes until they went on.

Piper laced her fingers with Jason's and smiled, "Well hopefully this will be easier than we're hoping it to be."

"I'm here for good music. Nico's band is pretty good." Jason smiled.

"Yeah they are, I've heard them a few times at some parties and don't they play out at the restaurant by the beach?" Piper asked.

Jason nodded and they found their friends who were all sitting in the front row, even Thalia was there. She wore a black lace dress and a pair of her favorite black Converse, the completely black hi-tops that she doodled on with silver Sharpie.

Finally Nico walked up to the mic, "Hey guys, we're Four Dorks and a Band and we're with you for two hours tonight!"

The majority of the crowd was local teenagers who were familiar with the band and the judges who happened to be Piper's dad, the mayor, and Percy's mom. The band broke into the intro to American Idiot by Green Day and Jason had a feeling that Nico had picked the show to appeal to one person in particular, his sister.

Thalia smiled slightly and started to bob her head. Piper was singing along, Jason didn't even know that she knew the words. Everyone was dancing and singing and having a lot of fun. Finally they got to their last song, a slower song that Jason knew for a fact was Nico and Thalia's song. The band went into the opening of Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls.

Couples in the crowd began to dance including Jason and Piper. He looked over at his sister and sighed because she was beginning to walk away. Nico noticed that too and decided to jump off the stage in the middle of the song allowing his rhythm guitarist to take the guitar solo. He ran after Thalia causing the crowd to aww in reaction, Jason had to admit that it was a cute gesture.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the love of my life Thalia Grace!" Nico announced before pulling her into a kiss. The solo ended and then the crowd picked up on the vocals allowing Nico and his sister to finish their kiss. Jason had to admit he was impressed, this wasn't how they had planned to get the two back together.

Piper was grinning madly, "That was the cutest thing I've ever seen!"

"Too bad I'm not in a band huh?" Jason joked.

Piper giggled before throwing her arms around Jason's neck and kissing him. Jason knew his lips were probably smeared with Piper's scarlet lipstick but he didn't care, he was kissing Piper McLean, the love of _his _life. Piper started to sing along with the crowd and Jason joined in with them. It was a nice ending to an amazing show.

After the song ended Nico drug Thalia up onto the stage with him and the winner of the cover bands were announced. The mayor walked up holding the envelope with the winner enclosed inside.

"Well, it's time we announced the winner of the cover band contest, the winner will receive a five hundred dollar grand prize and a trophy. So without any further ado, we invite the Founder's Princess and Prince up here to announce the winners. Silena and Charles if you would please?" the mayor smiled.

Silena Beauregard and Charles Beckendorf walked up to the stage arm in arm. They took the envelopes from the mayor and took their place at the mic, the other bands were now on stage. Nico had his arms around Thalia who was finally smiling again. Jason looked over at Piper who had her fingers crossed.

"Our third place winner, who will receive the one hundred dollar prize and a trophy is..." Silena announced opening the first envelope, "Defiance!"

The all girl group smiled and accepted their prize and said a few words. They were composed of a few girls Jason recognized from school, one of them being Lou Ellen McCall, she was basically the scene version of Drew.

"The winner who takes home the second place prize of two hundred and fifty dollars and their own trophy is..." Beckendorf announced, "Mayhem Children!"

The Stoll Brothers and Chris Rodriguez walked up and accepted their award and said a few words.

"The winner of the grand prize and first place is..." they announced it together, "Four Dorks and a Band!"

Nico's band members started high fiving and they accepted their prize, "Well thanks guys, we expect to see all of you at our future gigs out by the beach or well in my garage!"

The bands cleared the stage and Thalia gave Nico a congratulatory kiss before they made their way down to their friends. Piper and Annabeth hugged Nico and Jason and Percy brohugged him.

"Hey, I don't know about you guys but I'm starving." Nico said.

"How about pizza?" Percy asked.

Everyone agreed and headed out to their favorite pizza parlor. Piper and Jason enjoyed the rest of the evening and when he went to drop Piper off something happened. It started raining, Piper grinned, "Care to dance?"

"With no music?" Jason teased.

Piper stood on her tip toes and kissed Jason softly, "We'll make our own."

She pulled Jason out into the yard and they danced like that first night in the rain and at the ball. If this was something they were going to do often, Jason had to admit he liked watching Piper dancing around looking all innocent. She rested her head on his shoulder and they danced, they danced until they couldn't dance anymore. Piper kissed him so passionately that Jason had to lean against a tree for support. She wrapped her legs around his middle and kissed him even more passionately.

Soon the kissing came to an end and Jason had to admit, it was a scene straight out of the Notebook. He walked Piper back up to the porch where he bid her goodnight, "Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

She shook her head, "Stay."

Jason smiled and kissed her softly, "Would your dad approve of that?"

She shrugged, "I'm not sure, I don't think he'll care though as long as we're not having sex."

She unlocked the door and pulled Jason in with her. She kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to her. He cemented his hands to her waist and kissed her for another moment before pulling away, "I don't have dry clothes."

Piper giggled, "I'm sure there's something we can find for you while your clothes dry. Besides you're wearing jeans and a t-shirt, all you need to sleep is your boxers unless you're a tighty whitey man."

Jason rolled his eyes, "I wear boxers Piper."

She laughed and kissed him before pulling him up the stairs to find him something to wear. Before long he was outfitted in Piper's polk-a-dotted robe that was much too short for him and sort of tight but it wasn't going to take long for his clothes to dry in the drier.

Piper giggled and changed into her pajamas, Jason looked away as she slipped into a dry sports bra and new underwear, but took a quick peek as she pulled her tank top on. She was already wearing a pair of plaid shorts.

The signal on the drier went off and Piper went to go grab Jason's clothes. She tossed them in to him and waited outside while he changed out of her robe. He pulled on his boxer briefs, the tighter version of boxers, and then pulled his blue v-neck t-shirt on. He decided the jeans wouldn't be very comfortable to sleep in.

"Are you decent?" Piper teased.

Jason opened the door and allowed Piper to walk in. She walked over to her bed and Jason closed the door behind her and joined her. He pulled her onto his lap and buried his head in the crook of her neck, "Are you sleepy?"

She nodded before yawning. Jason carefully leaned back until they were laying down, Piper cuddled up to him and slipped the blanket around them. Jason had never been this close to Piper except for that night that she was completely drunk and laying on top of him. She intertwined her legs with his and they just laid there.

Jason ran his fingers through Piper's hair and smiled, "Goodnight Pipes."

"Night Jas." she whispered before her breathing evened out and she fell asleep with a smile on her face. Jason fell asleep smiling as well, they were on their way to finding Piper McLean and Jason was on his way to finding himself as well.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry this is a little bit of a filler chapter and that it's taken me so long to write it, usually I update earlier in the day. Thanks for all the reviews and I love the favorites! I'm still working on the prequel story about Thalia and Nico. Let me know how you like this chapter and don't be afraid to let me know what you think about the prequel idea. Please enjoy and review! :D ~ Bolts and Trees **

Piper woke up the following morning in Jason's arms and the smell of pancakes wafted through the house. Piper tried to sit up but Jason pulled her back down, "Just relax here for a moment."

"What's gotten into you?" Piper giggled and rested her head back on his chest.

"You were so peaceful." he whispered and ran his fingers through her hair smiling at her.

Piper smiled and just laid there listening to his heartbeat, "Are you nervous?"

He chuckled, "No why?"

"Your heartbeat is super fast." she whispered.

"That's interesting." he whispered before kissing the top of her head. She got that tingly feeling like she had touched an electric eel, like the ones her father had shown to her at the aquariums when she was younger.

"Are you hungry, I think my dad's making pancakes?" Piper asked.

She looked at him and he smiled, "I'm hungry but I don't want to get up."

Piper smiled and sat up, "Come on Jas, we really should..."

He cut her off with a passionate kiss and pulled her closer to him. She straddled his lap with her legs and wrapped her arms around his neck. She prayed that her father wouldn't walk in because he would most likely ban Jason from the house if he saw this. Jason's hands locked around her waist and she could feel her tank top ride up with his hands.

"Jason.." she giggled as he kissed her neck.

"Piper..." he mimicked her murmuring the words against the skin of Piper's collarbone. Piper raked her fingers through his hair and pulled his lips to hers. They kissed for about forty five minutes before they heard her father's footsteps coming up the stairs and down the hall. Piper jumped out of the bed and pulled her tank top down, Jason followed suit and struggled into his jeans before the door opened and Tristan McLean walked in holding a spatula and wearing Piper's purple polk-a-dotted apron.

"Dad what are you wearing?" she asked curiously.

"I couldn't find mine so I borrowed yours. Are you guys hungry?" he asked pointing towards the kitchen.

Piper and Jason nodded and followed Tristan into the kitchen where he served up Piper's favorite blueberry, chocolate chip pancakes. Piper and Jason poured themselves some coffee and ate their breakfast out by the pool on the deck while Tristan disappeared into his home theater room and enjoyed his breakfast.

"So, are we going to head out the Festival today?" Jason asked curiously.

Piper nodded, "Sounds like fun."

"Well I'll have to stop at my place to change and then we can head out there." Jason said as he took a bite of his pancakes.

"That's ok, I'll need a little time to get ready myself so if you want you can just come back and pick me up on your way out there or I can meet you there." Piper smiled.

Jason leaned across the table and kissed her cheek, "Sounds like a plan, I'll come pick you up."

Piper smiled and watched as he took care of his plate and she followed suit before running up to her room to go get ready. That day she decided to go with a pair of khaki shorts, a light blue v-neck tee, and a pair of light blue low-top Chucks. She quickly braided her hair making sure to add a few feathers and put her earrings in making sure that they were all blue and white, she had three piercings in each ear. She changed her nose ring to a stud and applied some make up, going with blue eyeliner rather than black and a little bit of blush.

Jason knocked on her door twenty minutes later and chuckled when he saw her, "We're twins."

Piper rolled her eyes and kissed him softly, "Come on cheeseball."

Jason smiled and wrapped his arm around Piper's waist and opened the door for and closing it after she climbed into the cab of the truck. She made sure that she had her wallet and phone and flipped through Jason's CDs before settling for a radio station. Jason smiled as he watched her sing along to every word of the songs that played.

Once they got to the Festival they met up with Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico. Jason wasn't sure what was going on with the situation quite yet but they were there together and holding hands so Jason was pretty sure that they talked about it.

"This town has too many festivals." Percy muttered as they waited in line for elephant ears.

"Tell me about it, I think I've spent at least seventy five dollars on elephant ears this year." Nico chuckled.

The girls were off getting something for lunch and entrusted the boys with the task of getting the elephant ears. The line was moving ridiculously slow but this was the best elephant ear stand at the Festival.

Percy got his elephant ear with powdered sugar, Nico got he and Thalia's with cherries and blueberries, and Jason decided that Piper would enjoy hers with cherries and powdered sugar. So they met back up with the girls who were sitting at a picnic table with nachos and whatever else they decided to pick up.

Jason took his set next to Piper and wrapped his arm around her waist, "Cherries and powdered sugar?"

She smiled and grabbed a chip drenched in cheese and salsa and taco meat, "Sounds good."

He grabbed a chip and they enjoyed lunch with their friends. Thalia and Nico were back to talking and being a couple so it wasn't awkward like it had been before. Jason then got a text from Leo who was out by the amusement rides and wanted to know if Piper and Jason wanted to meet up with him and Calypso.

Jason flashed the text at Piper who nodded and replied that they'd meet up by the Scrambler and finished his lunch.

"Long time no see strangers." Leo grinned.

Calypso was holding a stick of cotton candy and Leo had his arm around her waist, "Sorry we've been a little busy."

Leo laughed, "I figured that. So you two are a thing now?"

Piper nodded, "Yup."

"Well then let's go do something fun." Leo grinned.

Piper and Jason decided to spend the rest of the day with Leo and Calypso who were happy to have some company other than Octavian who kept bugging them.

"So, I'm almost finished with that bookshelf you asked for Piper." Leo said as they drank lemonade and walked around looking at the vendors.

"Good, I'll be able to paint it and it'll look way better than my old bookshelf." Piper smiled, "Hey, you guys should come over tomorrow and we can have a cookout or something."

Calypso smiled, "Sure, sounds good to me."

"Good, it'll be fun. Make sure to pack bathing suits we can use the pool." Piper smiled.

* * *

Jason walked into the kitchen where Piper was making the food for the cookout and smiled, "What are you making now?"

She smiled, "I'm making Leo's favorite Southwest Pasta Salad."

"How many different pasta salads did you make?" he asked her wrapping his arms around her waist as she cut the roasted corn off the cob.

"There's Greek, Southwest, and Bacon Ranch. There's also Loaded Smashed potato salad, chili con queso dip, spinach artichoke dip, Greek yogurt dip, and the chicken in marinating, it's going to be grilled and turned into chicken tacos." Piper said.

"How long have you been cooking?" Jason asked her curiously.

"I've been cooking since eight thirty." she shrugged, "Oh and I made some pudding filled cupcakes for dessert."

"How come there aren't that many dishes?" Jason asked her curiously.

"Because I washed them as I went along." Piper shrugged.

"What are Leo and Calypso bringing?" Jason asked.

"Leo's bringing salsa and guacamole, and he's also bringing homemade refried beans and Calypso said she's bringing lemonade." Piper smiled. She went over to the fridge to grab the fresh pico de gallo that she made for the pasta salad.

"Everything smells amazing Pipes." Jason smiled.

"Thanks, I thought you'd like it. Can you go start the grill?" she asked him.

He nodded and took the chicken out the grill cooking it to perfection and bringing it back in to Piper who cut it up and placed it in tortillas with salsa, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and her own creamy chipolte sauce. Then the door bell rang as Piper set everything up outside and Leo and Calypso walked in. Piper hugged both of them and Jason helped out.

"Did you cook for an army or what Piper?" Leo joked as they brought out dish after dish of snack.

Lunch was fun and light and full of conversation and then they all lounged around the pool. They even made plans to go out for a double date to the beach the next day. Jason helped Piper with the dishes after everyone left and snacked on Piper's delicious spinach artichoke dip.

"You have a thousand leftovers." Jason laughed as he watched Piper pack at least twenty chicken tacos away.

"My father will eat it trust me." she smiled.

"Your father will eat what Pipes?" Tristan asked as he walked into the kitchen, "Ooh, chicken tacos and pasta salad."

"Are you hungry?" Piper asked.

Tristan nodded, "Starving but why is there enough food to feed an army?"

Piper laughed, "The purpose of leftovers."

Tristan plated himself some food and smiled at Jason, "You staying the night again Jason?"

"Nah, I think I'm going to head home so Piper doesn't get sick of me." Jason chuckled and kissed Piper on the cheek.

Piper smiled and continued to pack up the leftovers. She kissed Jason quickly before he left for the night knowing that he'd return the next morning for their trip to the beach with Leo and Calypso.

"Piper, can I talk to you for a moment?" Tristan asked.

Piper sat at the table across from her father and smiled, "About what?"

"Mellie told be you wanted to travel after school. Where did you want to go?" he asked her curiously.

"Well I wanted to go to Europe and Asia and possibly Australia." Piper replied.

"How bad do you really want to go?" he asked.

"Well since I want to run my own catering business I can learn everything from my travels." Piper smiled.

"Well, as your graduation gift I'll pay for your entire trip." Tristan smiled.

Piper threw her arms around her father and hugged him tightly, "Thanks dad."

Tristan smiled and hugged his daughter back, "You've always said you wanted to travel."

Piper smiled and she talked to her dad the rest of the night. It had been a while since they had talked like that. Piper knew her father was worried about her but she wanted to assure him that there was nothing to worry about and that she was ok. She grabbed a pudding filled cupcake and put it on a plate before handing her father a spoon.

"Daddy, you don't have to worry about me." she whispered.

He smiled, "I am though Piper, you took a change for the worst. I've noticed that you're getting better now. If you need to talk to me sweetheart you can always call me. I don't care if I'm in the middle of shooting a scene, if you need me you let me know that."

Piper's eyes began to tear up and she hugged her father tightly, "Dad."

"It's ok Piper, I love you." he whispered before kissing her forehead, "This cupcake is amazing by the way."

Piper couldn't help but smile and sticking her finger in the icing, "You're right, this is an amazing cupcake."


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok sorry about not updating in forever but here's the next chapter! I hope you guys like it and I'm still working on the prequel story to this. It will be about Thalia. Please review and enjoy I'll try to update again hopefully. This chapter takes a bit of a turn for the worse and some of the drama kicks in here, I'm still going to have them travel but you're going to see how everything ties in later. :D~ Bolts and Trees**

Jason and Piper pulled into the school parking lot, they had been seniors for about a month and and a half and October and Halloween were starting to take their mark on the school and the town. Towards the end of the summer, closer to the day Piper's mother had died, he noticed that she went back to the way she was before. She started partying again and drinking and coming to Jason's smashed at two in the morning.

Jason and Piper walked to their homeroom where Leo, Percy, and Thalia were all sitting there laughing about something.

"Hey guys, what's so funny?" Piper asked as she took a seat in front of Thalia.

Thalia handed Piper her phone and showed her this video of some thug looking dude getting tazed by the police and trying to run away but tripping on his pants and getting tazed three or four more times. Jason watched it on Leo's phone and they all laughed about the same.

"So Percy, its been a month now and you haven't had Annabeth in your homeroom. Is your separation anxiety holding up?" Thalia asked.

"We text." Percy smirked.

Thalia rolled her eyes and Nico walked in, cutting it close to the bell. He was followed by Calypso who looked super tired. She sat next to Leo who wrapped his arms around her and started asking her what was wrong. Piper had to admit that they were seriously cute together.

Nico kissed Thalia before taking his seat behind her and the bell rang. Their homeroom teacher was nowhere in sight they figured that he was most likely passed out in the teacher's lounge and they took advantage of the fact that they didn't have a teacher for a few moments.

They were supposed to go out to the haunted house that night and go find costumes because Percy deemed it necessary to have costumes for the Halloween party Rachel threw every October.

"So Annabeth thinks we should all do couples coustumes." Percy said as they sat there and talked about Halloween.

"Sounds like Percy's putting Annabeth's name on his idea so we'll go along with it." Thalia rolled her eyes.

Percy pulled a face and flicked Thalia's forehead which caused Nico to flick Percy back, "Don't touch my girlfriend."

Percy chuckled, "When I said I wanted you to be canon, I meant it, now I want you two to be even more canon."

"Is that even possible?" Thalia asked turning and looking over at Percy.

Jason tuned out there argument and focused on Piper who sat at her desk with her head in her arms. She seemed tired when he picked her up that morning and he was concerned about her. He pulled his chair next to hers and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "Hey, Pipes what's wrong?"

She lifted her head up and rested her chin on her arms, "I'm fine there's nothing wrong."

Jason rubbed her back and just sat there with her, "Hey, are you busy tonight?"

She shook her head, "Nope, my dad is out for dinner with a friend of his who just flew in last week. Why?"

"I was thinking you could come over to my place and do some Halloween type activities." Jason smiled.

"Thalia's idea?" she cracked a smile.

"Does everything Halloween have to be Thalia's idea?" Jason chuckled.

"Is she doing the haunted house thing again?" Piper asked.

"Yeah a bunch of us are getting together and fixing up the place so Thalia can run the haunted house on Halloween for the kids and whatever." Jason nodded.

Piper smiled, "I have some good ideas to help her out. I found them on Pintrest."

"I knew you'd have some ideas." Jason chuckled.

That's when Thalia decided to get out of Percy's explanation of canon and shipping, "Hey, did you ask her?"

Piper laughed, "He just did, I have some great ideas."

Thalia grinned, "I was counting on you."

"Gotta love Pintrest." Piper smiled.

"You can say that again. Besides my mom made it possible for us to have access to her makeup artist so the makeup is going to look freaking amazing." Thalia grinned.

"So what's the theme this year?" Piper asked.

"Well since last year was Scary Potter, I was thinking this year is going to be Fear Factor." Thalia grinned.

"Like the show?" Piper asked.

"Exactly, you're the first one beside Annabeth to actually get the theme. It took Jason and Leo an hour to actually understand the theme." Thalia laughed.

"How could you two not get that?" Piper laughed at her boyfriend who shrugged.

"It's going to be so much fun. I was thinking about using the backyard and my mom said we could use parts of the house, like each room is a different type of fear." Thalia grinned wickedly.

"This is going to be so much fun." Piper grinned.

"What night is Rachel's party?" Thalia asked.

Rachel walked in checking to make sure that their teacher wasn't at his desk and took a seat next to Thalia, "It's after trick-or-treating, I made sure that it wouldn't interfere with the haunted house because I love that. It starts at midnight and ends at three." Rachel grinned, "I'm game for helping you out with scenes."

"Great, this is going to be awesome." Thalia grinned. The bell rang signaling the end of their homeroom so Jason walked Piper to her first class and kissed her cheek before going off to his class on the other side of the school. He always walked Piper to her classes no matter where they were.

Percy was waiting for him when he got to Weight Training, "Hey is something wrong with Piper? I've noticed she's been a little down lately."

"You have too?" Jason asked as he slipped his cut-off t-shirt over his head.

Percy nodded, "It's almost like she's slipping back into that place where she was last year."

"I know, it all started when it was getting closer to her mother's death anniversary." Jason said as he and Percy made their way up to the weight room.

"You're a good boyfriend." Percy shrugged.

"Well she's a good girlfriend because I know I'm not the easiest to get along with." Jason chuckled.

"I heard she wants to travel the world after high school, what are you guys going to do about that?" Percy asked curiously.

"I'm going with her. I don't want to be away from her for that long." Jason shook his head.

"You're going to put Harvard on hold?" Percy asked curiously.

"I am, I think it would be better to travel with Piper." Jason smiled thinking about the trip Piper had planned out for them.

"Sounds like someone's whipped." Percy waggled his eyebrows.

"Oh because you're not?" Jason rolled his eyes.

"I never said I wasn't because I know I'm whipped, I'm whipped more than you and Nico combined. Not quite sure if I'm as whipped as Frank, but I'm pretty whipped." Percy chuckled.

"Jackson, Grace stop fooling around and get your butts to work!" their coach yelled at them.

Jason ended up spotting Percy and thinking about Piper. Curse Percy for bringing her up. After class Jason changed as quickly as he could to catch Piper for her next class. Jason caught her just as she was walking out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "How was pre-calc?"

"Boring like usual." she shook her head. They had their next class together but Jason still liked walking Piper to all of her classes.

"Pipes, are you sure you're ok?" Jason asked pulling her closer to him.

She smiled and nodded, "I'm fine Jas."

He smiled at her and they continued to walk to their English class together. Jason carried Piper's things for her, always the chivalrous gentleman he was and set her things down for her at her desk which was beside his.

They sat through another boring discussion about the book that they were reading and Jason found himself distracted with staring at Piper who was reading ahead so she didn't have to worry about it later.

* * *

After school Jason made his way to Piper's last class just as she walked out of World History, "Hey."

She kissed his cheek, "What's up with you today?"

He shook his head, "Nothing at all, I'm just a little distracted today."

Piper laughed and reached into his back pocket, "Then you better give me your keys."

Jason laughed but didn't grab for the keys, he liked it when Piper was driving. They grabbed what they needed and Jason and Piper made their way out to Jason's shiny new sports car. It had been a gift from his mother for his birthday. Thalia had gotten one too, however her's was a shiny, vintage Mustang convertible.

Piper slid into the driver's seat and adjusted everything so she was able to drive safely. Jason was happy Piper took his keys because he was honestly too distracted looking at her to even pay attention to where they were on the road. Before he knew it they were at his house, they had picked up a bunch of food and things for Thalia's haunted house and Jason had lost all perception of time.

"Piper, when did we get here?" Jason asked.

Piper giggled, "Awhile ago Jas."

Thalia walked in carrying more supplies and smiled, "Well I've got you two, Nico, and Percabeth."

"Rachel told me she'd be over later, she said she had to deal with something with her dad before she could come over." Annabeth said as she walked in carrying an armful of supplies.

Piper pointed to the table where there were several different kinds of food ranging from Mexican to Chinese, "We picked up some food."

"Food?" Nico and Percy asked in unison before running into the dining room where the food was sitting and decided to attack the pizza Piper ordered.

"This year is going to be the best year ever, we've got access to my mother's makeup artist, my mom's given me an unlimited budget, and she's going to help out by bringing in actors and stuff. We have free reign of the house and tonight we're going to start planning, tomorrow since it's a Saturday we can start decorating." Thalia said.

"Sounds like a plan." everyone agreed.

* * *

The next morning everyone showed up at the Grace house to get decorating underway. Jason and Piper started outside with Thalia and Nico, "So what do you want us to do Thalia?"

"Why don't you guys start hanging some lights and then you can come help Nico and I outback by the pool." Thalia directed them.

Piper sipped on her Pumpkin Spice Latte and helped Jason untangle the lights Thalia was directing them to hang. They had gone all out the previous night and Piper had ended up staying over at Jason's so she and Thalia could work even longer on the decorations.

"This is going to be a lot of fun." Jason said as he stood on the ladder that Piper was holding for him.

Piper smiled and nodded, "Halloween is one of the greatest holidays in the world."

Jason and Piper finished their lighting and decided to go see what Thalia and Nico were up to out in the backyard.

"Hey you guys came just in time to set up the cemetery." Thalia grinned pointing to a bunch of headstones and what not to put around the backyard. Jason could just barely see Percy in the pool with Annabeth handing him what looking like tentacles and shark fins. Jason wondered how the hell Percy was swimming in the pool and not freezing his ass off. Apparently cold water didn't bother Percy much at all.

"So what's the cemetery for?" Jason asked.

"Zombies, ghosts, and death." Thalia grinned, "I've done my research to make this super scary."

Jason laughed, "This is for kids right?"

"Not necessarily." Thalia shrugged as she and Nico started setting up some of the headstones.

Piper and Jason set to work and soon enough the backyard was beginning to look like a creepy abandoned cemetery, "So are you going to have fog going?"

Thalia nodded, "There's also going to be dry ice and a bunch of lights."

"The pool?" Piper asked pointing to the tentacles and fins.

"Pneumatic rig, Leo's working on it for me." Thalia grinned.

"What's the front yard going to be?" Jason asked.

"The front is going to be subtle, everything's going to hit you when you walk into the garage." Thalia grinned.

The rest of the day Jason and Piper spent helping Thalia and Nico out in the backyard and Percy was still working on his pool. Piper looked really tired and Jason made note that she didn't look like Piper usually did. Today she actually looked tired, not like she was trying to hide it. Something bothered Jason about Piper and he needed to fix it.

* * *

The next day, after all the decorating was finished Piper and Jason decided to just take a chill pill and hang around the McLean house for awhile and watch a few horror movies. Piper rested her head on Jason's shoulder and he kissed the top of her head, "Are you alright Piper?"

"Not really." she whispered.

"What's wrong Pipes?" Jason asked softly, rubbing her arm soothingly.

"I honestly don't know, I just don't feel alright." she shook her head.

Jason frowned and wrapped his arms around her pulling her close and murmuring things to her to make her feel better. He hated seeing Piper hurt and he always felt like he had to fix it if she wasn't cheerful.

"I know how to make you feel better." Jason whispered in her ear with a menacing grin.

"No, anything but that." Piper giggled as he attacked her sides, tickling her to the point where she was shrieking with laughter.

"Jason stop!" Piper giggled and tried pushing him away.

Jason was looking down at her and grinning, "Not until all of this bad mood goes away."

Piper giggled and tried to pull his hands away, "Jason!"

Finally Jason decided to call off his tickle attack and kissed Piper gently on the lips. Piper wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled into the kiss. She pulled him closer to deepen the kiss and Jason didn't object.

Piper pulled away and smiled at Jason, "I love you Jason."

Jason stared at her for a moment, lost in her beautiful eyes, and smiled. She had never said it before, well neither had he, but this was her first time ever saying it, "I love you too Pipes."

She smiled and ran her fingers through his soft blonde hair, "Thanks Superman."

"For what?" he asked, Piper loved the confused expression that crossed his face when he asked.

"For being there for me." she whispered.

Jason chuckled and kissed her again, "It's no problem."

* * *

Then Piper relapsed. She went out to a party and got impossibly drunk, then she tried to drive a car. Jason got the call from Tristan at two in the morning about Piper being in a terrible crash. A crash that rendered her in the hospital, she wasn't dead but there was a slim chance of her survival. There had been a note, a note about wanting to end her life.

Jason rushed into the hospital and looked at the nurse running the front desk, "My girlfriend, Piper McLean, she was just in a bad accident. Where is she?"

"I'm sorry sir, she's in ICU and it's only..." the nurse was cut off.

"He's allowed to be in there." Tristan said walking out from behind a set of doors. He followed Tristan to a smaller waiting room in the ICU where there were a few other people waiting to hear word about their loved ones.

"She's in surgery right now." Tristan replied. Leo walked out of some room holding a coffee.

"Here you go Tristan." Leo said handing the distraught man the coffee.

Tristan smiled emptily at Leo and accepted the cup of coffee. Leo put his hand on Jason's shoulder and smiled grimly, "Good to see ya man."

Tristan sank into a chair, his head in his hands, "She told me she was better, she told me that she was out of depression."

Jason sat next to Tristan, "Tristan, it's not your fault."

"Yes it is, I hadn't worked so much her mother would never had gone out to that stupid party, drank herself insane, and crashed her car. Piper wouldn't be like this, she remembered everything. Jason do you know what it's like to lose your mother?" Tristan asked.

Jason nodded, "My mother almost died because she was driving while intoxicated."

"The wreck was terrible Jason, her car was smashed, they had to dig her out of it. She didn't even look like Piper when they wheeled her into the hospital. You wouldn't even recognize her." he shook his head, "This is all my fault. My little girl is lying on her deathbed because I work too much."

"Tristan, Piper's had other problems. It's not solely your fault man." Leo said taking a seat on Tristan's other side.

The doors swung open and Mellie and Hedge swept in. Mellie's eyes were full of tears and she rushed over to Tristan, "Oh Tristan, I'm so sorry!"

Leo and Jason decided to take seats farther away so Tristan could have some time with Mellie and Hedge who were comforting him. Jason rubbed his face and put his head in his hands, "She told me she was fine."

"Dude you can't beat yourself up about this either. It's not either of your fault, Piper had problems." Leo shook his head.

"She told me she was fine, she told me she wasn't drinking anymore." Jason whispered, a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Jason, you can't beat yourself up, you need to be strong for her. If this is your fault then it must be my fault to." Leo said patting Jason's shoulder comfortingly.

Finally after an agonizing forty five minutes a doctor in surgical scrubs walked out, "Tristan, your daughter managed to pull through operation, she's resting in her room, would you like to go see her?"

Tristan's head shot up, "Of course."

"Follow me." the doctor nodded and led Tristan down the hall. Jason and Leo sat out in the waiting room well past dawn. Finally Tristan walked out and headed towards Jason, "Do you want to see her?"

Jason nodded, "Which room?"

"The third one on the right." Tristan replied.

Jason walked down the hall and cautiously opened the door. Piper, or who was supposed to be Piper, was lying in the bed, hooked up to different machines. Jason took a seat next to her bed and grabbed her hand. He pressed it to his lips and kissed it gently. Her body was cross hatched with gashes and scratches. Her chocolate hair was a tangled mess, her face bruised beyond recognition. It was a miracle they identified her.

Jason wondered what injuries she had obtained. He just sat there staring at her. She was gorgeous in a terrifying way and Jason was going to stay there for her.

"Pipes what were you thinking? Why didn't you call me?" he whispered running his fingers through her hair.

She didn't respond, there was only the beeping of the machines she was hooked up to. She didn't stir, she didn't respond, she was in a coma. Jason figured that much. He sat there with her and nurses walked in and out to check on her vitals and what not.

After a few hours Tristan walked in holding a McDonald's bag, "Are you hungry?"

Jason and Tristan sat and talked to Piper after being told that she could still hear them and ate their breakfast which still didn't help Jason's stomach that was churning and making him sick. He couldn't live without Piper.


End file.
